Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola
Winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture
at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival
Production Notes
durée: 98 minutes
Sortie le 5 janvier 2011
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Synopsis
won the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at the 2010 Venice International
Film Festival. From Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola (Lost in
Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette),
is a witty, moving, and
empathetic look into the orbit of actor Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff).
You have probably seen him in the tabloids; Johnny is living at the legendary Chateau
Marmont hotel in Hollywood. He has a Ferrari to drive around in, and a constant
stream of girls and pills to stay in with. Comfortably numbed, Johnny drifts along.
Then, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) from his failed marriage arrives
unexpectedly at the Chateau. Their encounters encourage Johnny to face up to where
he is in life and confront the question that we all must: which path in life will you take?
Filmed entirely on location,
reunites the writer/director with Lost in
Translation editor Sarah Flack and production designer Anne Ross. Stacey Battat
(Broken English) is the costume designer, and Harris Savides (Elephant) is the director
of photography, on
.
A Focus Features presentation in association with Pathé Distribution, Medusa Film,
and Tohokushinsha of an American Zoetrope production.
. Stephen Dorff,
Elle Fanning. Music Score, Phoenix. Costume Designer, Stacey Battat. Film Editor,
Sarah Flack, A.C.E. Production Designer, Anne Ross. Director of Photography, Harris
Savides, ASC. Executive Producers, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Rassam, Fred Roos.
Producers, G. Mac Brown, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola. Written and Directed by
Sofia Coppola. A Focus Features Release.
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About the Production
When he got the call inviting him to work on the new movie from writer/director Sofia
Coppola, veteran producer G. Mac Brown sensed that it was just the challenge he
needed. Not that he had been lacking for challenges; as he notes, “My last two film
projects had budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars and each shot for more than
100 days.
“I don’t want to say that
was easy, because everyone worked really hard. But
this was such an intimate, small movie that it was easy to stay focused on the heart of
the story, which is between a father and daughter.”
Sofia Coppola’s brother Roman Coppola, who was already on board as producer of
, remarks, “Keeping away extra stuff that can pile onto a movie was important
for us. Sofia was modeling this project in a European, intimate style as well as in her
own personal style, which is simple and no-nonsense.
“One of my duties was to encourage the notion that less is more. While it was
important to save money, it was far more important to create the intimacy that Sofia
wanted in the filmmaking process. The spirit of the movie meant recruiting people
who would embrace it; I live in L.A. and Sofia hasn’t lived here in a while, so she relied
on me to refer local crew to her.”
Brown offers, “There’s a saying that the two most expensive words in the movie
business are ‘what if,’ and that necessitates a lot of equipment and staff to make sure
you’re ready for any eventuality. We tried to remove those two words from this
production’s vocabulary; Sofia is so clear about what she wants. For me, it was a sea
change in figuring out what is essential to getting a movie made.”
The shoot would impact the storytelling, and vice versa; as Brown comments, “If you
can have anything you want to have, it’s hard for you to decide what’s right.”
When contacted and contracted, everyone joining the production realized that they
were going to be part of something different than any picture they’d done before.
Stephen Dorff, cast in the lead role of Johnny Marco, states, “After making around
three dozen movies, I’ve gotten a gift of a part.
is special – poetic, sweet, and
truly in Sofia’s style.
“The opportunity came out of nowhere. Sofia, whom I’ve known for years but hadn’t
talked to in a while, called and asked if she could send me the script for her new movie.
After reading it, I called her the next day to ask her if I could come to Paris
immediately to meet and talk about the film. On my last night there, I got the call from
Sofia that I had the part. I started bawling, because it was the one-year anniversary of
my mom’s passing, and I felt her smiling in that moment; this was the kind of role
she’d wanted for me. Right after I hung up, the Eiffel Tower lit up.”
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The actor admits, “I know what it’s like to live as an actor like Johnny Marco. I get who
he is. I’ve had times where I’ve coasted. When we meet him, Johnny is lost in a
monotonous rhythm and a decadent lifestyle. He’s a nice guy, but he’s drinking and
popping pills. I don’t think he’s proud of a lot of the films he’s done – like his new one,
Berlin Agenda. He hasn’t gotten his
yet. Then his little girl shows up, and
even though he’s thinking ‘I can’t handle this,’ he spends more time with her than he
has probably since she was a baby – more than just an afternoon.
“Sofia and I talked about Johnny’s back story, so I was able to plan where he starts [out]
and where he goes [in his relationship] with his daughter, who is becoming a little
lady. We filmed so much of it in sequence, which was a joy.”
Dorff confides, “I always get a little nervous before I start a movie. But I’ve got to say
that on this one, I felt that I knew what I had to do. I felt it when I [had first] read it.
My mom always wanted me to play a Steve McQueen-type character. She would say,
‘He’ll be flawed, a ladies’ man, but he’ll have heart.’ That’s who I saw in Johnny, as Sofia
had written him.”
The already-cast Dorff was screen-tested with Elle Fanning, then the front-runner for
the role of Johnny Marco’s astute pre-teen daughter Cleo. In keeping with the
production’s aesthetic, Roman Coppola operated film and video cameras recording the
duo and Brown wielded the boom microphone, while Sofia Coppola gave direction to
the two actors and took photographs of them. The only other crew member with them
was a hair stylist who gave Dorff a cut beforehand, and then left. “We got right to the
core of how Stephen and Elle would work together, without any pressure or tension,”
notes Brown. The young actress was officially offered the part later that same day.
It was important to the writer/director that the on-screen father and daughter
relationship play out authentically, so she arranged for Dorff and Fanning to spend
time together before the start of production. Fanning reports, “Stephen and I have a lot
in common. He went to the same school that I go to. We both bite our nails. We’re
both from Georgia, and we both like our food well-done – really crispy! We now have a
father/daughter-type relationship outside of the movie.”
Though only 11 years old at the time of filming, Fanning has been making movies since
around the time she learned to talk. In reading the script, she saw
as “a movie
where everything felt real, including Cleo’s relationship with her dad.”
Like Dorff, Fanning still wonders about just how things will go when she steps onto a
film set. But on
, she “was never nervous, never felt rushed. If you had
something to say or an idea, you could tell Sofia and she would listen to you. If Stephen
and I had an inside joke or something, we’d ask her if we could incorporate it into a
scene. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and she doesn’t put pressure on. She
gets things done without yelling.”
When asked how she would prepare for the film’s more emotional scenes, Fanning says
simply, “I just do; I put myself in the character’s place. Acting is making believe, then
being natural – and going with whatever happens.”
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To train for the rink sequence early in the movie, Fanning took to the ice from 7:00 to
8:00 A.M. for six weeks. “I was excited,” she remembers. “I had started learning for
another movie, but [in that one] I didn’t have to be that good; for this, I learned to
skate backwards. Now I can show off to my friends.”
Former competitive figure-skating champion Renee Roca was engaged to teach the
young actress, and can be seen on-screen as Cleo’s instructor. “The day I met Elle, an
hour later we were on the ice working hard,” marvels Roca. “Sofia got [what would be
the accompanying] music [, the song, “Cool,”] to me and told me she wanted for the
scene – for Elle’s skating to be dreamy and free and elegant.
“Once Elle had learned to skate, and could do jumps and spins, I choreographed what
Elle would be doing. We did it several times every single day until it became muscle
memory [for her]. Elle was a perfect student; she was determined to get it right, and
she never complained.”
Dorff credits his relationship with his younger sisters as helping him to get a handle on
Elle and her character. He comments, “My sisters are, or have been, near Cleo’s age and
I’m very close to them. I pulled from that a lot for my scenes with Elle – who is a
brilliant little thespian and also a real, sweet girl.
“Being around Elle was a change for me, since I don’t have a child. I felt this when was
driving her in my car one day [before filming]. Now, usually I’m in my car smoking and
cursing when someone cuts me off – because we do have the worst drivers in L.A. – but
I had to stop doing all that. [Instead,] it was ‘Seatbelt on!’”
En route to playing the role of Johnny Marco’s friend Sammy, Chris Pontius
remembers getting “a phone call that Sofia wanted to meet with me. I hadn’t seen her
in a long time, and after we started to talk and catch up, she said she thought that I
might be the one for the part of a wild man who’s not too bad. I met with [executive
producer] Fred Roos and the casting people, and I could tell Fred was a big-timer. I
looked him up online when I got home – and was glad I hadn’t before I went because I
would have been anxious! A week later, they told me I’d be in the movie, and I was
psyched.”
While acknowledging that he is best known for his participation in the Jackass TV
programs and movies, and as the host of his own reality adventure show, Wildboyz,
Pontius muses, “What I do on Jackass and Wildboyz is mostly improvisation and us
playing off of each other, though we have things planned out that we’re going to film.
In the
script, my character would only have one or two lines written, so a lot
of my part was improvised. I did make up histories in my head and remember stories
to have in mind.
“Sometimes I would go in with an idea of where to take [a scene], but then when we
started filming, all of that would go out the window because of something someone
else said. I got a kick out of shocking Elle sometimes; I said extra-crazy stuff to her in
some scenes. But I know when to be vulgar and when not to be.”
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Pontius found that he and Dorff had friends in common, “so we hung out. We had a
blast; whether we were filming or not, it didn’t feel much different.”
To play out more provocative scenes opposite Johnny, Playboy models Kristina and
Karissa Shannon were cast after being brought to Sofia Coppola’s attention by a friend.
When the writer/director met with the twin sisters, “she didn’t tell us anything about
the roles,” says Karissa Shannon. “She just said it was [roles written] for twins. We were
excited to [be asked to] work with her.”
Kristina Shannon adds, “She asked us if we could dance. We love dancing, and we’re
good at it. Because I’m more girly and Karissa’s more of a tomboy, that’s how we got
our [respective] parts [assigned by Sofia]. I get to kiss Stephen Dorff, and Karissa gets
to smack him.”
The Shannons had to spend a minimum of three hours a day for three weeks prior to
production training with choreographer Robin Conrad and learning their two
demanding pole-dancing routines. Kristina Shannon remembers, “We had bruises
from head to toe, with all the climbing up and down.”
was the first feature for the twins, and Karissa Shannon notes that “working
together on such a small production, we got to see everything that goes into making a
film. Kristina and I would love to do more [movies].”
The Shannon sisters filmed their scenes during the first three weeks of shooting – all of
which was done on location at the celebrated Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, playing
itself for the first time at length on-screen.
“The Chateau doesn’t allow a lot of filming,” comments Brown, who entered into
negotiations with the hotel early and often. “If and when they do, they can charge a
very high location fee and it probably has to be done in the middle of the night. None
of this was the case with
.”
The Chateau’s general manager Philip Pavel elaborates, “There have been other major
motion pictures shot at the Chateau, but they were limited to one or two short scenes.
Sofia Coppola approached the owner of the hotel, André Balazs, and he had an
inherent trust of her deep knowledge of what makes the Chateau so special, and that it
would be brought to her movie.
“What spoke to me was Sofia’s appreciation for Romulo Laki. He’s been at the Chateau
for well over 30 years and is known as ‘the singing waiter.’ He loves to serenade the
guests with his guitar. Sofia had a memory of him singing ‘Teddy Bear’ to her in the
lobby, and incorporated that into her script. I’m excited for people to see that in the
film, because they might not know about the Chateau’s sweet side. I believe it’s what
makes the place so special; there is a homey feeling, and a feeling of safety.”
He adds, “The Chateau was originally built as a deluxe apartment building, so we have
large suites and full kitchens. Each room feels like a great old New York or Los Angeles
apartment. So it’s understandable why someone coming into L.A. to shoot a film or
record an album would want to stay here.”
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Roman Coppola reflects, “The Chateau is such a beautiful place. I have affectionate
memories of it. The place is its own little world, peaceful and very European. It’s
charged with history and personality.”
Dorff remembers living at the Chateau for “four or five months; I had my 21st birthday
there. I remember it always being trendy, but I don’t remember it being so popular. It’s
now quite a hot spot at night.”
Sofia Coppola felt that the actor would be more immersed in his character’s world if he
again took up residence at the Chateau. Dorff says, “It was kind of a trip to be back
staying at the Chateau, not going back to my own home every night. By living there,
because people might know or recognize me, I experienced a lot of what Johnny would
have; every night, I would wonder, ‘Do I go out to dinner, should I play piano, should I
go downstairs, go out to a movie?’ Many times I would think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to see
anybody; I’m going to order room service.’”
With an assist from the production, Dorff reports that he “also got my own Johnny
Marco/Chateau Marmont stationery, since Johnny is in residence there. So I started
sending notes to people and I got mail at the hotel – as Johnny. On this movie, I tried
to live the part more.”
Production designer Anne Ross was reteaming with the writer/director, and reveals
that “Sofia and I always work from the details out, and she is very specific on those;
[before production,] she will assemble a book with images that tell the story. These are
things and ideas that she pulls together; with people helping her implement them, it’s
what the film ends up looking and feeling like. Some of them show up on-screen, and
some of them don’t. There are threads in her work[s] visually, which is one reason I
love collaborating with her.
“The goal with
was to maintain the iconic feeling of the Chateau, so that no
one would know that we did anything [in the way of adjustments to the interiors], that
they would say ‘They just went in and shot.’ Now, there were things in the hotel that
we had to change only because they weren’t conducive to filming. But whatever was
done, we did with an eye towards keeping things true to the essence of the hotel. It is,
after all, a character in itself. While we were there, we found out different pieces of
history about the Chateau.”
The “renovations” were subtle. “When you’re in your hotel room, you want a big TV,”
notes Ross. “But on film, you need something a little smaller or it will eat up the frame.
We had to change all of the art in Johnny’s suite because none [of the existing pieces]
is cleared. We picked ones that were in the spirit of the artwork.
“We also reupholstered some of the furniture with fabric that’s reminiscent of the
lobby. We wanted to bring some of the beautiful, lush look of the lobby in there
because the rooms at the Chateau are often stark and sparse; they’re painted all white,
and I love that, but that can be too harsh for filming in such an intimate space. We
didn’t change a thing in the lobby.”
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With the color palette at the Chateau’s interiors so neutral, Ross relied on pops of color
to break up the space. She notes that the production dubbed one color “
yellow; it’s an electric, acid-y yellow that we tried to bring into the sets themselves or
with the props throughout.”
In introducing more color into the hotel settings, Ross closely coordinated efforts with
costume designer Stacey Battat. Ross reports that “even though Stacey and I hadn’t
known each other [prior to filming], because we both know Sofia so well there was a
shorthand. Sofia knows what she wants; she will calmly give a concise opinion about
why she likes or doesn’t like something.
“Stacey would show me what she planned to dress Cleo in, and my team would try to
complement that with the luggage we chose for the character. When Cleo shows up,
things get more colorful – in a literal way. Because we were not building [sets or
rooms], the palette was in many ways dictated by space [within the Chateau].”
Battat says, “Anne and I showed each other our reference books to collaborate.
Working with a production designer is like building a doll house; the production
designer builds the house, and I make the dolls.”
For Johnny Marco’s sartorial style, Sofia Coppola asked Battat to look to Bruce Weber
photos and Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho for inspiration. The costume
designer offers, “We knew we wanted Johnny to wear work boots, and the brown boots
we ended up using were vintage Red Wings from the 1940s. We wanted him to recall
Marlon Brando, wearing T-shirts and vintage Levi’s jeans. Even though he’s a movie
star of today, he wears classic clothes.
“His wardrobe is reflective of his personality, but also that he is messy. He will sleep in
his clothes, and doesn’t own pajamas. When he goes to Italy with his daughter, he
realizes he needs pajamas – so, in my imagination, he went to the fancy shop and got
the polka-dotted ones you see in the movie.”
With the character of Cleo, Battat took even more artistic license. She remarks,
“Though the character is in part inspired by a certain girl of that age, Sofia and I
decided that Cleo should be our concept of an 11-year-old. She carries herself as an
adult in some ways; it’s not that she looks or dresses like one, but she’s more styled and
chic than a typical kid. So, for example, she wears a little Hermès bracelet.”
Battat cites the twins’ matching costumes as “my favorites of the movie. It was a
challenge to make them be sexy but not trashy. For the tennis outfits, we searched
around until we finally found what we wanted, with sneakers that look like tennis
shoes but are high-heeled.
“One of my favorite sequences overall was the Telegatto Awards, for which we watched
a DVD of the [actual 2008] ceremony. At the Telegattos, Cleo is sitting in the audience
and there’s such a contrast between her and the people sitting around her. She looks
natural, while with their sequins, glamour, and tans the others don’t; to me, they
represent the excess in Johnny Marco’s life, while Cleo is there as this pure soul.”
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Of working with director of photography Harris Savides, who on
was also
camera operator, Ross states, “He makes everything you do look better, look so much
better than you even thought it would because he’s so talented.”
Battat adds, “You always have to factor in that some things won’t work on-camera. But
with Harris, nearly everything does because he’s a great DP; he can light a scene in a
way so that the white is not too bright or so that stripes don’t waver.
“Sofia was so good at steering us to make the visual elements line up exactly how she
wanted them to.”
The departments’ coordination was made that much easier because the production
had bought out the whole fifth floor of the Chateau to set up shop on for the threeweek shoot; there you could find, as location manager Stephenson Crossley recounts,
“the camera room, the grip and electric room, the production room, the art
department room, the hair and make-up room, and the [Johnny Marco] room that we
were shooting in. There was a balcony around the outside, so we could move from
room to room along the balcony.”
Crossley found the Chateau to be “amazingly quiet for being so close to the Sunset
Strip. Even room to room, it’s quiet; with the thick floors and ceilings, we wouldn’t
hear each other. It’s a little island unto itself. We always felt protected; the staff was
amazing. Many of them have worked there for decades and are like a family.”
With the production pared down and largely filming in Johnny Marco’s room, the
movie got made while the hotel remained open and operational the entire time.
Stephen Dorff’s room, with a layout almost identical to Johnny’s, was one floor up.
Pavel admits, “Having a production crew in a 24-hour, fully functioning hotel was not
without its difficulties. Despite that, we loved having Sofia, Roman, Mac, and their
team here.”
Following shooting at the Chateau Marmont and at various locations around Los
Angeles and California, the unit decamped to Las Vegas for one day of shooting. The
final leg of production took the unit all the way to Italy.
Fanning says that she “had never been to Italy, and I had been told that Milan is the
fashion capital of the world, so I was excited to go. I liked visiting the places that were
from another era – and the pasta and pizza were so good!
“Many of the crew there didn’t speak English, and I don’t speak Italian, so we had to
get someone in to translate. It felt like we were always playing the game of Telephone;
you’re telling someone what to say, they’re repeating it...”
Roman Coppola describes Milan as having “a certain amount of chaos that’s just part of
the culture there, and we were far away from home turf.”
Yet the spirit and the letter of the production remained intact. Brown says
affectionately, “Everything in Italy starts out ‘impossible!’ and then it becomes ‘maybe’
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and eventually they give you the go-ahead. I think the Italians learned a lot from us
because we were a smaller production. I kept telling them that we didn’t need so
much.”
As the project’s veteran of big-budget productions, Brown feels that
is a film
of moments rarely found in movies these days. He explains, “There’s a scene where
Johnny lights a Camel Lights cigarette and smokes it, in real time, all in one shot. It
comes at a point in the movie where we’re on board with this character and
understand where he is at in his journey.
“I know that Harris and Sofia and [film editor] Sarah Flack all agree that when you call
out ‘cut,’ or make a cut, you’re controlling the emotion rather than letting the filmgoer
experience it. The style of filmmaking, and of telling the story, on
was to let
the emotions go and to let the scenes roll out in a natural way. That frees everybody
up.”
Dorff reflects, “There were these moments that Sofia wanted to be in real time. I’ve
smoked in movies before, but I’ve never smoked a whole cigarette [straight through].
To sit in a room on-camera for minutes on end and not get self-conscious was a
challenge. Sofia was there and crew members were there, yet it felt like I was alone
with my own thoughts. It was an enlightening way of working on film, one I’d never
experienced before as an actor.
“The emotions in
are real, but subtle. Sofia, being both open and precise,
created a foundation where Elle and I could get to them. It had been a long time since
I’d been on a set where there wasn’t a bunch of monitors being watched; Sofia would
always be watching us.”
11
“I try to make personal films;” Q&A with writer/director Sofia Coppola
Q: Can you address the frequency of hotels in your work?
Sofia Coppola: [laughs] Oh, yes – Versailles was like a hotel, too, in Marie Antoinette!
Q: It dates back to [the segment of New York Stories that you co-wrote,] “Life without
Zoe” –
SC: Yeah. When I was writing
, I thought, “Oh, here I am in a hotel again.”
When I was growing up, we spent a lot of time in them, off-and-on, going on location
with my dad [Francis Ford Coppola] when he was filming in different places. As a kid, I
always thought it was interesting to see the people staying in hotels, and fun to be in
hotels. They become their own world inside.
Q: Overall, how does place relate to and/or influence the character you’re writing? In
, it would seem that the Chateau becomes identified with Johnny’s feeling
trapped and unable to mature.
SC: When I’m starting writing, I usually start with the character and then the location
is next, closely following the main character; which city? Which hotel? [laughs] That
shapes it.
A couple of years ago, I was working on a different script, a vampire story. There was
this Hollywood movie star character who popped into that story. He kept coming into
my thoughts and demanding my attention, and I figured that he really needed his own
movie.
So, on
, I started with this character of Johnny Marco. I thought, “He lives in
the Chateau Marmont,” because it seems like every young actor I’ve talked to has a
story about living at the Chateau. They’ve all done a stint there; “Oh yeah, I lived there
a year,” or “I lived at the Chateau for a couple of months.”
It’s kind of a rite of passage; it’s so linked with making it in Hollywood while showing
that you’re still down-to-earth.
Q: That mindset probably took root back in the 1960s and 1970s, in the [Chateauneighboring] Sunset Strip heyday…
SC: It’s always had a decadent appeal. I went there as a kid, before its latest
incarnation. I remember in the 1990s, there were stories of actors or rock stars trashing
their rooms. These stories became fragments of scenes when I started writing this
script, connecting them to the Johnny Marco character.
Q: Could you elaborate on the title a little?
12
SC: It’s funny;
was a temporary title, but it just stuck. Since I wanted the
movie to be like a tone poem of this time in this guy’s life, it reflected his knowing he
needs to go somewhere – but he doesn’t know where exactly.
The movie is set in modern-day Hollywood, but it’s not really about the film business,
and you don’t see him working as an actor; anyone can relate to the universal themes
of family and personal crisis.
Q: Speaking of the exact locale, you’ve gone all over the globe to make movies but
you’ve never done an “L.A. story” until this one. Your initial description of this movie
was as “an intimate story set in contemporary Los Angeles.” Did you just feel it was
time to explore that city?
SC: When I was [living] there [in California], I wrote about faraway, distant places. I
was living in Paris after our daughter was born, and maybe that distance or some
homesickness for America made me want to look at California.
But I’ve always loved those iconic movies about L.A., like Shampoo and American
Gigolo, and I couldn’t think of one recently that had captured the mood and the feeling
of L.A. today. In starting with the character, I thought of American pop culture today,
its fascination with fame and what that brings with it.
Q: The films you just referenced notably have male protagonists who pretty much have
it all, are swaggering, and are brought low by varying degrees during the course of the
stories.
SC: Right, but I wasn’t thinking directly of those characters – more of the [movies’]
mood. I was thinking of successful movie stars who had died or made suicide attempts.
I was curious; if you’re in a nonstop partying lifestyle with girls and drugs and all, what
is that like in the morning? Do you take a moment to reflect when you’re alone with
yourself?
Q: In going back to L.A. to make this movie on location, how did you feel the city has
changed in the 21st century?
SC: Well, I lived in L.A. in the early 1990s, and it was…I don’t want to say “more
innocent,” but it was before US Weekly [relaunched], tabloids [flourished], and so
many celebrity party people. It had a different feeling; the Chateau Marmont wasn’t
getting paparazzi, and there weren’t reality shows. It seems that there’s an abundance
[of those shows] now, and it seems like people were checking into the Chateau just to
be photographed. The Chateau Marmont used to be more of a private world, but now
it’s become the center of that part of pop culture.
Q: It became more of an open secret; “It’s private here –“
SC: “But I want to be photographed.”
Q: In terms of logistics, after your previous film Marie Antoinette, this was going to be
much simpler to make. But is it in fact hard to make a movie in L.A. today?
13
SC: I didn’t find it to be [so]; we were working under the radar and didn’t have
superstars, so we could move around and do our thing. After Marie Antoinette, which
had so many costumes and extras, it was liberating to have a smaller crew and so
something closer to my experience with Lost in Translation. This was the most lowstress, pleasant shoot I’ve ever had.
For me, this was a good experiment; centering a movie around just two characters,
focusing on their intimate story and also spending a lot of time with one [of them]
alone. I didn’t want [anyone watching the movie] to be aware of the filmmaking, so
you can just be there with the character.
Q: So the aesthetic was informing the story as you were writing it?
SC: Definitely – what it was like when he’s alone with himself at the Chateau; that
moment of having to look at yourself, which is always scary for anyone. There are so
many distractions in modern life, especially in the culture around show business in
L.A. You can distract yourself forever; when do you put those [distractions] aside and
really look at yourself? The intention was to take the time to be alone in the room with
Johnny; the script was very minimal.
Q: Did you have a plan B if the Chateau did not agree to host the filming? Was there
any hotel on back-up?
SC: No. It had to be [the Chateau] – it was an essential element, the third [main]
character in the movie. A lot of times, I don’t have a plan B; I just have to find a way to
make it work. Or then rethink the whole thing.
Luckily, the owner, André Balazs, and the general manager, Philip Pavel, were very
gracious to open it to us.
Q: And you didn’t have to ask to move or knock down any walls?
SC: Right. [Director of photography] Harris Savides is impressive, because he can shoot
wherever [you request]. He’s up for it! I thought with the twins [sequences], we’d have
to be in a bigger room, but we managed to move things around and make it work.
Q: How did you come to team up with Harris?
SC: My friend Anne Ross, our production designer, had worked with him. I had met
him over the years, and had always admired his work. Anne was a bit of a matchmaker;
she said, “Oh, you’ll love working with Harris.” We ended up shooting a commercial
the summer before [filming
]. We worked really well together; also, I was
working on the
script around when we did the commercial, and talking with
him about movies and filmmaking inspired me to try this more minimal style and got
me excited to work in a way I hadn’t before.
Harris and I like similar photography; he gets fashion references, because he’s worked
in that world. He embraced the minimal and naturalistic style on this movie; we
14
weren’t encumbered by a lot of set-up time and equipment, and we could be free in
how we approached shooting it. I loved the way he shot it in natural light. I’m not one
of those people who storyboard everything or plan everything before; I like to try
things and then figure it out as we go, and Harris is open to working the same way.
Q: Yet the movie seems classically shot, not on-the-fly – and it was on 35-millimeter
film, rather than in hi-definition [HD] digital.
SC: I’ve always shot on film. My dad is really into HD, and he thinks it’s sweet that my
brother Roman and I are so sentimental and love film. It has a beautiful quality that is
unique, and I hope that we can shoot on it for a little while longer.
The set of lenses we used to shoot
were the actual ones that my dad shot
Rumble Fish [(1983)] on. Roman said that we had them, Harris wanted to try them, and
Rumble Fish is a favorite of mine. So I thought, let’s use them. The lenses were in
storage, and we had them all cleaned up and restored. These are Zeiss lenses, which
have a softer quality; we’re so used to super-sharp with hi-def, but with this I wanted
to have a romantic feeling [in the cinematography].
Q: There’s no romance in the movie per se, but rather the great love of a father and
daughter. How close to you is the character of Cleo?
SC: The character of Cleo was inspired by a friend’s kid that age whose parents are in
show business, but also by my memories of having a powerful father that people are
attracted to being around and having a dad who did things that were kind of out of the
ordinary. It’s not all me, but there’s things from my childhood.
In everything I do [as a writer/director], there’s a personal connection. Your life
experiences are going to inform what you write about. After Lost in Translation, this is
my only other original screenplay [to have been filmed]. I feel that those movies are
more personal than ones based on a book or something else, because you fill them
with your own experiences and thoughts. I admire personal filmmaking, movies that
come from a point of view unique to that person making it. So I try to do that. I try to
make personal films.
Q: But you’re still open to writing and directing adaptations?
SC: Yes, because I enjoy adapting. With The Virgin Suicides, I loved that book, and I
wanted to make the movie version. What’s fun is figuring out the puzzle of how you’re
going to adapt. It’s a little less scary than writing an original screenplay, where you
have nothing to look at [first]. Writing original screenplays can push you to make
something that you maybe didn’t know you were interested in.
Q: With your films’ lead characters, you come down on the side of empathetic rather
than judgmental or condescending.
SC: I want to tell their stories, imagining what it’s like for that person at a point of
transition in their lives. On
, I wanted to be in Johnny’s head. Because this
15
[character] was a guy and my other films have been more about women, I asked
Stephen a lot of questions. But I also had a sense of Johnny from people I knew.
What you try to do is, try to show a point of view that someone might not otherwise
see. I’ve seen privileged worlds; if you’re outside one, you might think it would
completely fulfill you, but that’s not necessarily so.
Q: Any frequent moviegoer has their own Johnny Marco – actors or actresses we are
loyal to but who maybe haven’t made the most of their potential.
SC: There’s ones that you like, actors that you’re rooting for. There have been bad-boy
actors who either grew up a little, chose to have families, or went the route of being the
old guy at the club and never evolved. I wanted Johnny to be right at that moment in
his life where he has to look at himself and choose – which I feel is something that
anyone can relate to, having to make that decision of what kind of person you’re going
to be.
So Johnny was a mix of people I know or have met, and stories heard. There were
people that I talked to who thought it was them [that Johnny was based on].
Q: What were your conversations with Stephen like?
SC: I counted on Stephen to collaborate. I’ve always thought he was talented. I’ve
known him a while and I wanted to see him doing something he hadn’t [yet] done – a
side he hadn’t shown audiences. When I sent him the script, he said, “I get it. I totally
can relate to this guy.” Stephen has a reputation for being out and about with girls, but
he also has a little sister around Cleo’s age that he’s close with.
Q: Did you write the script with Stephen in mind?
SC: When I was working on that other script and this character came into my head, I
pictured Stephen from the beginning. Other actors were suggested to me [later], but I
came back to my first [choice], Stephen.
Q: How did Elle Fanning come to your attention to play Cleo?
SC: I was in L.A. meeting with [executive producer] Fred Roos and he told me that he
had seen Elle at a screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which she had a
part in and which he said she was great in, and that in person she just had something
about her – and that we should meet her. I was thinking, “Oh, she’s going to be this
professional Hollywood Kid, and probably not what I had in mind.” I wanted a kid who
would feel real, and a contrast from the showbiz world.
But we met Elle and were really taken with her. She was at the exact age I wanted. Fred
wanted us to meet all the young actresses out there, and I did but I kept comparing
them to her; “She’s not Elle.” You want to watch Elle; she stands out, she has this
sparkle, she is full of life, and she brings so much to
. I tried not to interfere
too much with what she was doing, because she’s so good and was so instinctual.
16
Q: Did you rehearse her and Stephen together?
SC: We had a little rehearsal period, with some improv, so that they had some history
together. They hit it off, so I was happy. I went bowling with them and [costar] Chris
Pontius. I asked Stephen to pick up Elle from school and he took her to Color Me Mine
[the personalized ceramics studio], so they had some bonding time. Stephen also went
to Elle’s volleyball game and cheered her on from the sidelines, and together they had
lunch with Lala Sloatman, who plays Cleo’s mother [/Johnny’s ex-wife].
With the father/daughter relationship – them getting to know each other – I was also
thinking of Paper Moon, which I love. I asked Stephen to watch that.
Q: Cleo is introduced in an ice-skating sequence. How did you conceive this as an
understated turning point in the story – with the Gwen Stefani song [“Cool”] in mind?
SC: The story starts out darker, and just by herself, Cleo brightens it up. I wanted
Johnny to have to do some parent thing in the beginning, so [it became Cleo’s] taking
ice-skating lessons. The dreamy gliding on the ice is her purity, in contrast to the
strippers [we’ve seen him with] in his world. I wanted the source music to be music
that would really be playing there [at the rink], part of the experience. “Cool” is a sweet
song, and you believe that an 11-year-old would be ice-skating to it. I’m so happy we
got that song, because I love the way it works with that [sequence]; it’s so sincere.
I wanted to show that she’s a girl right on the cusp of transforming into a teenager; the
way Johnny is with women, I thought it must be complicated to have a daughter who’s
on the verge of becoming a woman. So, to me, the sequence is about that.
Q: But we’re experiencing it as a beautiful moment. The characters may not pick up on
that, because they’re in the moment, but through the lens we do and behind the lens
you must.
SC: Yes, I feel that in life, you notice these moments that could be in the most
mundane places, They’re magical moments, but they’re real and they’re all around you
– if you’re looking for them. When you look back on moments that touch you, things
don’t have to [have] happen[ed] in a dramatic way. They can be not extraordinary, very
ordinary.
Q: You mentioned the women we’ve seen Johnny with up to that point, the twin
strippers – the sequences with them are also music-driven. Was the music we hear
what they were listening to on the set?
SC: Again, I wanted it to be music which was believable and had the right feeling –
[music] that they would bring [with them], not something obscure. So, yeah, we had a
boom box. The first song was Foo Fighters’ “My Hero,” which I thought was funny
because Johnny has broken his arm and they’re dancing as candy stripers to cheer him
up. The second one [later in the movie], with their sassy tennis routine, was Amerie’s “1
Thing,” which had the right spirit to it.
17
I had the idea that Johnny gets twins, like room service, all the time. I met with a
bunch of different twins, but the Shannon twins were great – so enthusiastic, with a
cuteness to them. They would light up the room when they came in.
We had to go to the [Playboy] Mansion when they were rehearsing. The staff told us,
“They’re filming the [reality-television] show [The Girls Next Door], so you’re going to
have to be on it if you come see them.” It wasn’t a goal for me to be on that show,
but…it was fun to visit the Mansion and see them in their element.
Q: Not everyone will be familiar with Chris Pontius, who plays Sammy, Johnny’s friend.
SC: I know him from [the stunt-television series] Jackass, and one of our mutual
friends has a daughter around Cleo’s age that Chris is always kidding around with. He’s
good with kids, and that’s what gave me the idea that he would be good as Johnny’s
buddy [interacting with Cleo]. My intention was that Sammy is a friend of Johnny’s
from back home, or a cousin. There’s something lovable about Chris, and he’s funny; I
thought he would be able to improvise with Elle. I liked having them hang out in the
room knowing that he could come up with stuff.
Q: Did you tell him to do what he wanted, and then follow along with the camera?
SC: We planned some things out. I asked him to come up with certain stories, and
then wait ‘til we were filming to tell the stories, so we could get real reactions.
Q: Elle does look aghast at times –
SC: Yeah, I loved when he asks her if her teacher is an alcoholic – the look on her face!
But then we would do other versions and Elle would just go with it, being natural while
staying in-character.
Q: How was it working in Italy?
SC: Working in a foreign country has its challenges; there’s always their style of doing
things. But I always prefer to shoot in the real places, rather than making Milan in L.A.
To fake even the extras in L.A. wouldn’t have had the same feeling.
Q: Yes, you got actual industry people, like filmmaker Maurizio Nichetti, for the
Telegatto Awards sequence…
SC: They made it more authentic, especially for the Italian audience [who will see the
movie]. I had gone to the Telegatto Awards with my family years ago. That Italian
television culture is so specific, and so different than ours – it’s over the top. Being in
that foreign a setting bonds Johnny and Cleo together.
Q: For post-production, you made this your third consecutive film with editor Sarah
Flack. Did you approach this differently than your previous works together?
SC: Before, [on the earlier movies,] we’d try [scenes] in a lot of different orders, shift
things around.
felt like it didn’t want to change its order. We ended up
18
keeping things the way they were shot. That lent itself to the story and how simply we
made it. We didn’t do a lot of coverage.
Q: In terms of the actors’ performances, were there a lot of takes to choose from?
SC: Well, you don’t move on [during filming] until you feel like you have it. There was
a lot of good material with Elle and Stephen that we could use.
Q: As the movie progresses, there’s no artificially induced melodrama, like a custody
battle or a trip to the ER…
SC: Something like that was suggested to me, but I feel that in life those things don’t
always happen. You don’t have to gain awareness from something big and dramatic; it
can be from details that you [take] notice [of]. Spending time with his daughter in a
more aware way [than before] affects Johnny, and I feel that the film ends on a hopeful
note.
19
About the Cast
STEPHEN DORFF (Johnny Marco)
Stephen Dorff previously teamed with
producer G. Mac Brown on Michael
Mann’s Public Enemies, starring with Johnny Depp.
The Atlanta, Georgia native has been acting in movies for over two decades. In 1990, he
was one of 2,000 actors who auditioned for the lead role of John G. Avildsen’s The
Power of One. Mr. Dorff got the part, starring with Morgan Freeman, John Gielgud, and
Fay Masterson; additionally, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)
honored him with the ShoWest Male Star of Tomorrow Award.
He subsequently notably portrayed two real-life pop culture figures; the “fifth Beatle,”
musician Stuart Sutcliffe in Iain Softley’s Backbeat, and cross-dressing film star Candy
Darling in Mary Harron’s I Shot Andy Warhol.
Mr. Dorff’s other films include Ric Roman Waugh’s Felon, which he also executiveproduced; John Waters’ Cecil B. DeMented, in the title role; Lee Daniels’ Shadowboxer;
Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center; Mike Figgis’ Cold Creek Manor; Scott Kalvert’s
Deuces Wild; Phil Joanou’s Entropy; Bob Rafelson’s Blood and Wine, opposite Jack
Nicholson and Michael Caine; John Irvin’s City of Industry, with Harvey Keitel; James
Lapine’s telefilm Earthly Possessions, opposite Susan Sarandon; Tony Kaye’s Black
Water Transit; Tom Brady’s upcoming Born to Be a Star; and Stephen Norrington’s
Blade, opposite Wesley Snipes, for which he won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
He is currently filming Tarsem Singh’s epic mythological fantasy Immortals, which will
be released in the fall of 2011 by Rogue Pictures.
ELLE FANNING (Cleo)
Elle Fanning is, at age 12, already a film and television veteran.
At age 3, the Conyers, Georgia native appeared as the younger version of her older
sister Dakota’s character in Jessie Nelson’s I Am Sam, opposite Sean Penn. The Fanning
sisters again played the same character at different ages in Taken, the Emmy Awardwinning epic SciFi Channel miniseries.
Elle Fanning’s subsequent films include Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Academy
Award-nominated Babel, alongside Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza; Tod
Williams’ The Door in the Floor and Terry George’s Reservation Road (both also for
Focus Features); Steve Carr’s Daddy Day Care; Andrei Konchalovsky’s The Nutcracker,
released in 3-D; Wayne Wang’s Because of Winn-Dixie; Tony Scott’s Déjà Vu; and
David Fincher’s multi-Oscar-winning The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, portraying
the younger incarnation of Cate Blanchett’s character, opposite Brad Pitt.
20
Her first lead role was as the title character of Daniel Barnz’ independent feature
Phoebe in Wonderland, in which she starred opposite Felicity Huffman, Patricia
Clarkson, and Bill Pullman.
On television, Elle Fanning has appeared in episodes of such popular shows as House,
Law & Order: SVU, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, Judging Amy, and Criminal Minds. She
also starred in a second SciFi Channel miniseries, The Lost Room.
CHRIS PONTIUS (Sammy)
Chris Pontius has had roles in McG’s Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and Rodger
Grossman’s What We Do Is Secret.
He is best known for the hit reality series Jackass and its feature film incarnations, in
which he plays the role of himself while also going by such nicknames as “Party Boy,”
“Chief Roberts,” “Bunny the Lifeguard,” and “Roller Bobby.”
A modern-day romantic barbarian at heart, Mr. Pontius wandered the world and then
some back in the early 1990s with only a guitar, skateboard, notebook and pen, and
backpack. He would often document spirited tales in the little spiral-bound notebook.
These accounts found their way into the subversive pages of Big Brother, the
skateboard magazine which in turn funded further tours both in the U.S. and abroad.
A decade later, he grounded himself in Los Angeles. But due to his present scientific
obligations hosting the reality series Wildboyz, he and his backpack still spend little
time in one place. Wildboyz dispatches Mr. Pontius and Steve-O to exotic lands of
wonder, mystery and intrigue – as America’s foremost ambassadors of absurd goodwill.
21
About the Filmmakers
SOFIA COPPOLA (Writer/Director/Producer)
Sofia Coppola grew up in Northern California. After doing costume design on two
feature films, she studied Fine Art at California Institute of the Arts.
She then wrote and directed the short film Lick the Star (which world-premiered at the
Venice International Film Festival), followed by the feature The Virgin Suicides. Ms.
Coppola wrote the screenplay for the latter film, adapting it from Pulitzer Prize winner
Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same name. The movie starred Kirsten Dunst, Josh
Hartnett, James Woods, and Kathleen Turner. A world premiere at the Cannes
International Film Festival, The Virgin Suicides subsequently earned her the MTV
Movie Award for Best New Filmmaker.
Ms. Coppola’s next film, Lost in Translation, was her first with Focus Features, and
screened at the Toronto, Venice, and Telluride Film Festivals. The movie brought her
the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as Academy Award
nominations for Best Director and Best Picture (in her capacity as producer). Lost in
Translation stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson won BAFTA Awards for Best Actor
and Best Actress, respectively, among many other honors that the cast and crew
received worldwide.
Her third feature as writer/director, Marie Antoinette, was based in part on Antonia
Fraser’s biography Marie Antoinette: The Journey, and world-premiered at the Cannes
International Film Festival. The movie, which Ms. Coppola also produced, starred
Kirsten Dunst in the title role. The film’s costume designer, Milena Canonero, won an
Academy Award for her work on the picture.
G. MAC BROWN (Producer)
While based in New York City, G. Mac Brown has been working on major motion
pictures filmed all over the world for 30 years.
Close to home, he has been a producer on such films as Martin Brest’s Scent of a
Woman, starring Academy Award winner Al Pacino; Frank Oz’ In & Out, with
Academy Award nominee Joan Cusack; Uli Edel’s Last Exit to Brooklyn; Paul Schrader’s
Light Sleeper; and Nora Ephron’s Lucky Numbers, Michael, and You’ve Got Mail.
Over the past decade, Mr. Brown produced Adrian Lyne’s Unfaithful, starring Academy
Award nominee Diane Lane; and executive-produced The Departed, which won
multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director (Martin Scorsese),
Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter, and Michael Mann’s Public Enemies (which costarred
Stephen Dorff of
).
22
On location Down Under, he produced Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia, starring Nicole
Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
Mr. Brown is currently at work as executive producer on Men in Black 3, being filmed
in 3-D. The action comedy reunites actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones with
director Barry Sonnenfeld, and also stars Josh Brolin and Jemaine Clement.
ROMAN COPPOLA (Producer)
Roman Coppola grew up in the world of filmmaking, and has developed his directing
skills by working in multiple capacities; from sound recordist to cinematographer,
from writer and producer to inventor.
Mr. Coppola began his directing career with visual effects direction and second-unit
direction on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which garnered a BAFTA Award nomination for
Best Special Effects. His first feature film, C.Q., world-premiered at the Cannes
International Film Festival and was well-received critically. He has lent his talents as
second-unit director to, among other films, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and
Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. He was a producer and co-writer
on Mr. Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited.
He is also the founder and owner of The Directors Bureau (TDB), a prestigious and
award-winning production company. It is through TDB that Mr. Coppola has directed
highly acclaimed and influential music videos, for such bands as The Strokes and
Green Day; and commercials, for such clients as Coca-Cola, Honda and Comcast. His
work has earned him various industry honors, including a Grammy Award nomination
and two MTV Video Music Awards. His stream-of-consciousness music video for
Phoenix’ “Funky Squaredance” track was invited into the permanent collection of the
Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Coppola is a founding partner of the Photobubble Company, which markets a
newly patented inflatable film enclosure; more details can be viewed at
www.photobubblecompany.com.
He has recently partnered with WTTW to produce a highly original children’s show,
Mission to Planet 429, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is set to air on
PBS in 2011. Not since Sesame Street over 40 years ago has the D.O.E. funded an
educational show based on new teaching theories.
Mr. Coppola is president of the pioneering San Francisco-based film company
American Zoetrope.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (Executive Producer)
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most respected talents in the entertainment
business.
Best known as a five-time Academy Award-winning director, writer, and producer, he
won his first Oscar at age 31 for the screenplay of Patton, which he co-wrote with
Edmund H. North.
23
Mr. Coppola’s impressive body of work includes directorial credits for 24 films,
including such epics as the Godfather trilogy; Apocalypse Now; The Conversation; The
Outsiders; Rumble Fish; and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Throughout his career, he has always searched for better tools for filmmakers and is
considered the pioneer of electronic cinema. Many of the techniques he developed
have become the industry standard.
His days of being a pioneer continue, as Mr. Coppola has returned full circle to the
aspirations of his younger self: writing and directing personally meaningful films. He
once again made an unorthodox choice: to regain expressive freedom by returning to
the ethos of his early years – making movies of modest budget, far from a Hollywood
sound stage, with a small crew and actors who are passionately committed. Youth
Without Youth was the first of these projects and Tetro quickly followed.
American Zoetrope, the company that Mr. Coppola began over 40 years ago, has
produced some of the most important films in American cinema, including American
Graffiti; The Godfather (Parts II and III); The Black Stallion; The Outsiders; Rumble Fish;
Peggy Sue Got Married; Barfly; The Conversation; Apocalypse Now; Bram Stoker’s
Dracula; Don Juan DeMarco; Mi Familia; The Virgin Suicides; C.Q.; Lost in Translation;
Youth Without Youth, and Tetro. The company is currently in production with On the
Road, based on Jack Kerouac’s book and directed by Walter Salles.
American Zoetrope films have received 17 Academy Awards and 75 nominations. 4 of
the company’s films were included in the American Film Institute’s ranking of the Top
100 American Films. Mr. Coppola’s cornucopia of honors overflows with Oscars,
Golden Globes, Palmes d'Or, and Writers and Directors Guild Awards.
American Zoetrope has constantly embraced the creative possibilities of technology,
and has pioneered many of today’s cinema technologies: video assist, pre-visualization,
electronic editing, and sound design. Under Mr. Coppola’s leadership, and now that of
his children Roman and Sofia, American Zoetrope continues to be known for
developing alternative approaches to filmmaking.
FRED ROOS (Executive Producer)
As producer of some of the most unique films of our time, Fred Roos has worked with
many of the film world’s most gifted moviemakers and actors.
His long-term collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola has brought him an Academy
Award, for producing Best Picture winner The Godfather Part II. Also with Mr.
Coppola, he was again a nominee for producing Apocalypse Now; co-produced two
more Best Picture Oscar nominees, The Godfather Part III and The Conversation, the
latter of which won the top prize, the Palme d’Or, at the Cannes International Film
Festival; and executive-produced another Best Picture Oscar nominee, Sofia Coppola’s
Lost in Translation.
24
Among the other features directed by Francis Coppola on which Mr. Roos has been a
producer are One from the Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club,
Gardens of Stone, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, the “Life Without Zoe” segment of
New York Stories, Youth Without Youth, and the recent Tetro.
Mr. Roos’ producing credits also include Jack Nicholson’s Drive, He Said; Carroll
Ballard’s The Black Stallion; Wim Wenders’ Hammett; Barbet Schroeder’s Barfly;
Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden (1993); Mel Smith’s Radioland Murders; and
Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette, respectively as co-producer
and executive producer. He received a CableACE Award, as well as an Emmy Award
nomination, as executive producer of the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A
Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.
Before he began producing films, Mr. Roos had a notable career as a casting director,
on such films as Richard Lester’s Petulia; Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point;
George Cukor’s Travels with My Aunt; John Huston’s Fat City; Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy
Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens; Francis Coppola’s The Godfather; and George
Lucas’ American Graffiti and Star Wars, as casting consultant on the latter.
HARRIS SAVIDES, ASC (Director of Photography)
Harris Savides was an Independent Spirit Award nominee as cinematographer of Milk,
also for Focus Features, starring Academy Award winner Sean Penn. The latter film
marked Mr. Savides’ fifth feature collaboration with director Gus Van Sant. Their prior
works together include Gerry and Elephant, for which Mr. Savides won a New York
Film Critics Circle award (for both films) and was nominated for two Independent
Spirit Awards (for each film); Last Days, for which he was again an Independent Spirit
Award nominee; and Finding Forrester. Their sixth film together is Restless, which is
currently in post-production.
Mr. Savides’ other films as director of photography include Noah Baumbach’s
Greenberg, also for Focus Features, and Margot at the Wedding; David Fincher’s Zodiac
and The Game; Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, for which he was a BAFTA Award
nominee; Martin Scorsese’s Hitchcock homage short The Key to Reserva; Woody
Allen’s Whatever Works; James Gray’s The Yards; and Jonathan Glazer’s Birth.
He received his degree from the School of Visual Arts, where he studied film and
photography. After a career as a still photographer, he made the transition into
cinematography.
ANNE ROSS (Production Designer)
Anne Ross previously collaborated with writer/director Sofia Coppola as production
designer of Lost in Translation, for which she was an Art Directors Guild Award
nominee.
Ms. Ross’ production design credits include Gus Van Sant’s upcoming Restless; Noah
Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding; Natalie Portman’s
25
short Eve; Jim Taylor’s short The Lost Cause; and music videos for such artists as
R.E.M., The Strokes, and Air.
She has also designed commercials for (among other top clients) Dior, Geico, Calvin
Klein, and Adidas; her spot for Citibank won an Emmy Award for Outstanding
Commercial.
SARAH FLACK, A.C.E. (Film Editor)
Sarah Flack won a BAFTA Award, and was nominated for the American Cinema
Editors’ Eddie Award and a Cinemarati Award, for editing Sofia Coppola’s Lost in
Translation (also for Focus Features). She reteamed with the writer/director on Marie
Antoinette.
Ms. Flack has collaborated with Steven Soderbergh on several projects, editing his
features Full Frontal, The Limey (for which she was nominated for an Online Film
Critics Society Award), and Schizopolis.
Her additional credits as film editor include, also for Focus Features, Sam Mendes’
Away We Go and Jim Simpson’s The Guys; Peter Hedges’ Dan in Real Life; Michel
Gondry’s Dave Chappelle’s Block Party; John Polson’s Swimfan; Michael Showalter’s The
Baxter; Edward Burns’ Looking for Kitty; and Mark Gibson’s Lush.
Ms. Flack graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Political Science and in
Semiotics/Film. After a job in Prague on the set of Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka, she
began working as an apprentice and later as an assistant editor, with Claire Simpson
(on Caroline Thompson’s Black Beauty and Robert Towne’s Without Limits); with
Nancy Richardson and Pietro Scalia (on Desmond Nakano’s White Man’s Burden); and
with Jill Bilcock (on Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo + Juliet’).
STACEY BATTAT (Costume Designer)
Stacey Battat’s latest projects as costume designer are writer/director Shana Feste’s
Love Don’t Let Me Down, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, and Leighton
Meester; and the television series How to Make It in America, which will air its second
season in 2011. She also designed the costumes for the latter’s first season.
Early in her career, Ms. Battat worked for iconic designer Marc Jacobs. She segued to
working as a fashion stylist full-time, going on to amass a portfolio of work with such
illustrious photographers as Dusan Reljin, Annie Leibovitz, and Brigitte Lacombe,
contributing to Vanity Fair, GQ, W, and other publications.
Her career as a costume designer began when writer/director Zoe Cassavetes requested
that she work on the independent feature Broken English, starring Parker Posey. She
next designed the costumes for another independent film starring Ms. Posey, Mitchell
Lichtenstein’s Happy Tears; for Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s Uncertainty, starring
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins; and Will Frears’ Coach, starring Hugh Dancy,
Gillian Jacobs, and Mamie Gummer;
26
Ms. Battat attended New York City’s famed Fashion Institute of Technology, and is a
graduate of the Hunter College School of Social Work.
PHOENIX (Music Score)
The four musicians who comprise Phoenix are a close-knit group of childhood friends
from Versailles, which is where their home studio is based. Their fourth record,
“Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” recently earned them a Grammy Award for Best
Alternative Album. The album’s seven-minute-plus/two-part “Love Like A Sunset”
track can be heard in
, along with the original music that the group composed
for the movie.
The members of Phoenix – who write and perform all their works – are guitarist
brothers Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, bassist Deck D’Arcy, and vocalist
Thomas Mars, who also sang the vocal on Air’s “Playground Love,” which was featured
on the soundtrack of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. The band then released their
2000 debut album “United,” whose song “Too Young” became an underground hit once
it was used in Ms. Coppola’s Lost in Translation.
27
CAST
in order of appearance
Johnny Marco
Sammy
Party Girl #1
Party Girl #2
Party Girl #3
Bambi
Cindy
Chateau Patio Waiter
Patio Girl
Blonde in Mercedes
Vampire Models
Cleo
Layla
Ice Skating Instructor
French Guy
Pretty Girl
Marge
Claire
Studio PR Man
Eager PR Woman
Rebecca
Rebecca’s Publicist
Press Photographer
Italian Journalist
Indian Journalist
Chinese Journalist
Russian Journalist
Egyptian Journalist
Israeli Journalist
Korean Journalist
SPFX Make-up Artists
Receptionist
Ron the Masseur
Hotel Room Neighbor
Brunette Bikini Beauty
LAX VIP Services
Airline Rep
Stephen Dorff
Chris Pontius
Erin Wasson
Alexandra Williams
Nathalie Fay
Kristina Shannon
Karissa Shannon
John Prudhont
Ruby Corley
Angela Lindvall
Maryna Linchuk
Meghan Collison
Jessica Miller
Elle Fanning
Lala Sloatman
Renee Roca
Aurelien Wiik
Lauren Hastings
Amanda Anka
Ellie Kemper
Brian Gattas
Randa Walker
Michelle Monaghan
Sylvia Desrochers
Christopher
James Taylor
Silvia Bizio
Noel De Souza
Lisa Lu
Alexander Nevsky
Aida Takla-O’Reilly
Emanuel Levy
H.J. Park
Jordu Schell
Joey Rocket
Jack Firman Jr.
Io Bottoms
Paul Greene
Eliza Coupe
Nicole Trunfio
Tim Starks
Mary McNeal
28
Milan VIP Handler
Milan Airport Policeman
Hotel Manager – Milan
Pupi
Pupi’s Wife
Pupi’s PR
Young Rich Man
Sylvia
Italian TV Reporter
Telegatto Hosts
Telegatto Award Recipient
Telegatto Special Guest
Telegatto Girls
Telegatto Dancers
Italian Limo Driver
Hotel Manager
Romulo
Victor
Naked Blonde with Sailor Cap
Young Wasted Girl
Chateau Lobby Guest
Casino Croupier
Helicopter Pilot
Helicopter Ground Safety
Woman Getting Haircut
Parking Valet
Stunt Coordinator
Ferruccio Calamari
Antonio Bracciani
Davide Borella
Nunzio Alfredo
‘Pupi’ D’Angieri
Jo Champa
Greta Zamparini
Stefano Fiorentino
Laura Chiatti
Giorgia Surina
Simona Ventura
Nino Frassica
Maurizio Nichetti
Valeria Marini
Paola Turani
Marica Pellegrinelli
Martina Chiriaco
Jennifer Iacono
Angela Lanotte
Simona Lucia Tauro
Marco Gandolfi Vannini
Philip Pavel
Romulo Laki
Damian Delgado
Laura Ramsey
Nathalie Love
Caitlin Keats
David Jean Thomas
Peter McKernan
Patrick McKernan
C.C. Sheffield
Ray Garcia
Robert Nagle
29
CREW
Written and Directed by
Producers
Executive Producers
Director of Photography
Production Designer
Film Editor
Costume Designer
Music Score
Sound Designer
Line Producer
Casting
Unit Production Manager
First Assistant Director
Second Assistant Director
Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Art Department Coordinator
Graphic Designer
Camera Operator
1st Assistant Camera
2nd Assistant Camera
Loader
Still Photographer
Script Supervisor
Sound Mixer
Boom Person
Sound Utility
Gaffer
Best Boy
Key Grip
Best Boy Grip
Property Master
Assistant Property Master
Set Decorator
Buyer
Lead Person
On-Set Dressers
Set Dresser
Costume Supervisor
Set Costumer
Costume Shopper
Sofia Coppola
G, Mac Brown
Roman Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Paul Rassam
Fred Roos
Harris Savides, ASC
Anne Ross
Sarah Flack, A.C.E.
Stacey Battat
Phoenix
Richard Beggs
Youree Henley
Courtney Bright
and Nicole Daniels
G. Mac Brown
Rod Smith
Joe Roddey
Shane Valentino
Francesca Mirabella
Cindy Ichikawa
Phillis Lehmer
Harris Savides
Jason McCormick
Paul Metcalf
Eric Jensch
Merrick Morton
Jayne-Ann Tenggren
Susumu Tokunow
Rocky Quiroz
Zach Wrobel
Chris Culliton
Jarek Gorczycki
Jamie Lagerhausen
Danny Stephens
Ritchie Kremer
Curtis Corbitt
Fainche MacCarthy
Sandy Lindstedt
Mark Weissenfluh
Marilyn Morgan
Merdyce McClaren
Scott G. Jones
Patricia McLaughlin
Miranda Kelley
Nicola Clegg
30
Make-up Supervisor
Old Age Make-up Designer
Hair Supervisor
Hair Stylist
Location Manager
Assistant Location Manager
Location Coordinator
Location Scouts
Production Coordinator
Production Secretary
Production Associate
Production Accountant
First Assistant Accountant
Payroll Accountant
Extras Casting
Featured L.A. Extras Casting
Model Casting
Choreographer
Acting Coach
Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Captains
Food Coordinator
Craft Service
Medic
Producer’s Assistant
2nd 2nd Assistant Director
Key Set Staff Assistant
Set Staff Assistants
Production Office Assistants
Production Office Intern
Assistant to Mr. Dorff
Tutor to Ms. Fanning
Las Vegas Extras Casting
Additional Casting
Art Department Interns
Camera Staff Assistant
Camera Intern
Property Assistants
Property Intern
Set Decorating Intern
Darlene Jacobs
Jordu Schell
Johnny Villanueva
Patricia Gundlach
Stephenson Crossley
Duffy Taylor
Narges Takesh
Matt DeLoach
Justin Harrold
Syndey Huynh
Sue Yeon Ahn
Jonathan Focil
Sheilah Sullivan
Michelle DeMayo
Caroline Andrade
Central Casting/
Chris Bustard
James Welch
James Scully
Robin Conrad
Christopher Neil
Blaine Currier
Howard Bachrach
David Urich
Nick Brown
Eva Scott
Tamara Maellaro
Brian Mercer
John Nasraway
Chris Kubek
Alexander Roos
Alessandra Balazs
Miles Burke
Mike Downs
Diana Jackson
Ella Hatamian
Erica First
Judy Brown
David Anthony Parada
Aleta Chappelle
Paul Ventura
Amanda Hallberg
Julie Mapes
Jason Alegre
Sophie Savides
Monica Perez
Tamara Auerbach
Heidi Ethridge
Lily Fettis
31
Costume Staff Assistants
Costume Intern
Kacy Byxbee
Gia Coppola
Kara Cordell
Post-Production Supervisor
Assistant Editor
Post-Production PA
Visual Effects Supervisor
Visual Effects Producer
Lead Compositor
Stuart MacPhee
Daniel Triller
Dan Erickson
Syd Dutton
Scott Tinter
Fumi Mashimo
Supervising Sound Editors
Richard Beggs
Michael Kirchberger
Roy Waldspurger
Heather Gross
James Simcik
Matt Hartman
Jon Logan
Richard Beggs
Roy Waldspurger
Colin Guthrie
Sin Cohen
James Mockoski
Richard Beggs
William Storkson
Travis MacKay
Wade Barnett
William Storkson
Ronni Brown
Ramon Wesselink
Barbara Harris
Jon Fasal
Tiziano Crotti
Sound Editor
Effects Editor
ADR Session Editor
Assistant Sound Editor
Apprentice Sound Editor
Re-Recording Mixers
Mix Technicians
Mix Facility Coordinator
Music Editor
Additional Music
ADR Mixer
ADR Recordist
Foley Supervisor
Foley Artist
Foley Recordist
Voice Casting
Additional Recording
ADR Recorded at Wildfire Post-Production
Foley Recorded at Audio SFX
Re-Recorded at American Zoetrope Rutherford CA
AVID Editing Systems Provided by Post FactoryNY
American Zoetrope Executive
in Charge of Production
Post-Production Accountants
Music Clearances
Clearance Coordinator
Product Placement
Unit Publicist
Michael Zakin
Jennifer Freed
Trisha Santos
Jill Meyers
Cathleen Brown
Jake Stango
Sylvia Desrochers
32
Italy Unit
Producer/1st AD
Production Service Company
Executive Producers for Some of Us
Art Director
Telegatto Consultant
Telegatto Choreographer
Production Manager
Unit Manager
Production Coordinator
Production Assistant
Location Manager
2nd Assistant Director
Casting
Additional Casting
Extras Casting
Set Production Assistants
2nd Assistant Camera
Still Photographer
Gaffer
Key Grip
Boom Person
Art Director Assistants
Art Buyer
Property Master
Property Master Assistants
Make-up/Hair
Hair Stylist
Costume Stylist
Assistant Costume Stylist
Paramedic
Theater Light Designer
Theater Tech Representative
Jordan Stone
Some of Us
Michele Anzalone
Roberta Senesi
Andrea Rosso
Daniele Soragni
Brian Bullard
Roberta Isaja
Max Villani
Patrizia Roletti
Simone Cedroni
Sergio Devidovich
Franco Basaglia
Luisa Pacchetti
Silvia Fiorella
Dario Indigo
Mattia Fumagalli
Marco Orlando
Fabio Suanno
Angelo Bonomelli
Franco Biciocchi
Felice Guzzi
Piero Fabbri
Curzio Aloisi
Daniela Dellagiovanna
Alessandro Tessadro
Marina Lubrano
Walter Saro
G. Franco Parmigiani
Maurizio Miroglio
Milena DiGirolamo
Carmen Amaro
Jack Abernethy
Chiara Allievi
Lucia Gallone
Arianna Prada
Alberto Negri
Raffaello Leone
Filmed on location at
Chateau Marmont
Four Seasons Hotel L.A. at Beverly Hills
33
Planet Hollywood
The Hotel Principe Di Savoia
Malpensa International Airport
Teatro Ventaglio Smeraldo
Songs
“Love Like A Sunset Part I”
“Gandhi Fix”
Written by Thomas Mars, Christian Mazzalai,
Composed
Laurent Brancowitz, Deck D’Arcy
and performed by
Performed by Phoenix
William Storkson
Courtesy of Ghettoblaster S.A.R.L. under exclusive
license to V2 Records International Ltd. t/a Cooperative Music
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.
and Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC
By arrangement with Zync Music Inc.
“My Hero”
Written by Pat Smear, Dave Grohl and Nate Mendel
Performed by Foo Fighters
Courtesy of Roswell Records
“1 Thing”
Written by Rich Harrison, Amerie Mi Marie Rogers
and Stanley Walden
Performed by Amerie
Courtesy of Columbia Records,
a unit of Sony Music Entertainment
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
“Oh Calcutta” (as contained in “1 Thing”
performed by Amerie)
Performed by The Meters
Courtesy of Rhino Entertainment Company
By arrangement with
Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
“Cool”
Written by Gwen Stefani and Dallas Austin
Performed by Gwen Stefani
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
“So Lonely”
Written by Sting
Performed by The Police
Courtesy of
A&M Records
Under license from
Universal
Music Enterprises
“20th Century Boy”
Written by Marc Bolan
Performed by T. Rex
Courtesy of
Spirit Music Group
“Che Si Fa”
Written by
Paolo Jannacci
Performed by
Valeria Marini
“Teddy Bear”
Written by Bernie Lowe
and Kal Mann
Performed by Romulo
34
“Love Theme From Kiss”
Written by Peter Criss, Ace Frehley,
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley
Performed by Kiss
Courtesy of the Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
“Look”
Written by Sebastien Tellier
Performed by Sebastien Tellier
Courtesy of Record Makers
“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”
Written by Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern
Performed by Bryan Ferry
Courtesy of Virgin Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music
“I’ll Try Anything Once”
Written by
Julian Casablancas
Performed by
The Strokes
Courtesy of
the RCA Records Label
and the RCA/Jive
Label Group,
a unit of Sony Music
Entertainment
By arrangement with
Sony Music Licensing
“Love Like A Sunset Part II”
“Massage Music”
Written by Thomas Mars, Christian Mazzalai,
Composed
Laurent Brancowitz, Deck D’Arcy
and performed by
Performed by Phoenix
William Storkson
Courtesy of Ghettoblaster S.A.R.L. under exclusive
license to V2 Records International Ltd. t/a Cooperative Music
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.
and Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC
By arrangement with Zync Music Inc.
Title Design
Negative Cutter
Dailies Color
Technicolor Coordinator
Dailies Color Timer
Color Timer
Dolby Sound Consultant
Payroll Services
Paymaster
Production Insurance
Clearances Provided by
Completion Bond
Financing
Peter Miles
Walt Disney Studios
Negative Cutting
Company 3
Arthur Tremeau
Sean Coleman
Mato
Dan Sperry
Entertainment Partners
Richard Guay
Denise Felkins
Taylor & Taylor Ltd.
Kathy England
& Eric Shonz
Act One
Script Clearance
Film Finances
Steven Berman
Cinetic Media
35
Legal Services
Sloss Eckhouse
Brennan Lawco LLP
The use of the Ferrari marks and cars is authorized by
Ferrari S.p.A. – filmproduction@ferrari.it
Thank You
TPC
Mom & Dad
Bart Walker
Zoe Cassavetes
Xan Cassavetes
André Balazs
Philip Pavel
Madison Clapp
Fabrizio Vitti
Andrew Durham
Greta Seacat
Baz Luhrmann
Liat Baruch
Barry Hirsch
George Hayum
The Directors Bureau
‘Pupi’ D’Angieri
Enzo Indiani
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.
TV Sorrisi E Canzoni
Gianmario Longoni
Leader Sound
Louis Vuitton
Nina Ricci
Acne
Persol Adidas Marc Jacobs
Fendi
Dolce & Gabbana
Activision – Guitar Hero 5
Todd Barry
Globe Trotter
Matteo Sardi
Matt Weiss
Nash Edgerton
FilmLA
36
Gandhi Footage Provided by Thought Equity
Friends Footage Provided by Warner Bros.
Cameras by Otto Nemenz
Lighting and Grip Equipment Supplied by Paskal Lighting
Camera Cranes, Dollies, Remote & Stabilized Camera Systems
by Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment, Inc.
Prints by Technicolor
Kodak Motion Picture Film
MPAA No. 45833
The events, characters and films depicted in this motion picture are fictitious.
Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead,
or to actual films is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 Somewhere LLC
All Rights Reserved.
Dolby Stereo SR/SRD/DTS, in selected theaters
Aspect Ratio: 1:85/1 [Flat]
Running Time: 98 minutes
www.SomewhereTheMovie.com
A Focus Features Release