`DAY(TRIPPERS)' IN THE LIFE OF GREG MOTTOLA : QUIRKS ABOUND ON SCREEN AND OFF FOR INDIE DIRECTOR.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Writer Filmmaker Greg Mottola's life is full of contradictions lately. On the one hand, he can tell stories about riding around the Cannes film festival Cannes Film Festival Film festival held annually in Cannes, France. First held in 1946 for the recognition of artistic achievement, the festival came to provide a rendezvous for those interested in the art and influence of the movies. with his buddy on a mo-ped, both of them dressed in tuxedos and going from party to party until sunrise. On the other hand, he got home to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of recently and couldn't watch a story about his own movie on cable television because he's been too broke to pay his bill. Such is the real life of a novice independent filmmaker - even one whose movie, ``The Daytrippers,'' has been embraced by critics and has won a number of festival awards, including audience awards at Deauville and Athens; a jury mention at Toronto; and the grand prize at Slamdance, a guerrilla offshoot of the Sundance Film Festival. Already playing to strong art-house grosses in New York, ``The Daytrippers,'' which opened here this weekend, is a charming and eccentric ensemble comedy about a Long Island family that rallies behind one of its own to help track down a straying husband. Eliza (Hope Davis) arrives at her family's house at breakfast, upset over a letter that suggests her husband is having an affair. Determined to get to the bottom of it, the whole family piles into the wheezing Wheezing Definition Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound associated with labored breathing. Description Wheezing occurs when a child or adult tries to breathe deeply through air passages that are narrowed or filled with mucus as a station wagon and heads off to Manhattan, where their abbreviated road trip merges into some through-the-looking-glass adventures as they pursue their elusive quarry throughout one long, surreal and surprising day and night. Before it's over, the movie's buoyant tone has darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. and some raw shocks have been received, but it only serves to make these accessible characters all the more human and fascinating. And some appealing new talents have caught our attention, including Mottola and his lead actress, Davis. Mottola, 32, is a bespectacled, articulate, soft-spoken man with his head shaved bald. He remembers the beginning of the filming as seeming like something less than ``an arrival'' for all concerned. ``Our camera was stolen on the first day of filming, and a few days later, Hope (Davis) sprained her ankle pretty badly,'' he laughs. ``I had named the production company Fiasco, and someone told me that had been a bad idea.'' It had been hard enough for Mottola to get to that start date in the first place, even with the backing of his producers, Steven Soderbergh and Nancy Tenenbaum (``sex, lies & videotape''). Ambitious script - cheap The two had been high on his potential after seeing a short film he'd done called ``Swinging in the Painter's Room,'' and had spent two years trying to help him raise money for another, more ambitious script. Finally, said Mottola, they told him, ``If you can come up with something that could be done really cheaply, we'll give you the money to make it.'' While working nights at a computer graphics company, Mottola wrote the first draft of ``The Daytrippers'' in four weeks, based on something that had occurred to him while riding in the back seat of his parent's car. ``I remember thinking, since they're facing forward, they can't turn around and remember that I'm 30 years old - they're talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to me like I'm 10. I realized that certain kinds of relationships we have are set in cement.'' Soderbergh and Tenenbaum, along with actor Campbell Scott Campbell Scott (born July 19 1961) is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist. Scott was born in New York City, New York, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. , put their own money into the new project, coming up with $70,000. Scott acted in the movie, playing a debonair deb·o·nair also deb·o·naire adj. 1. Suave; urbane. 2. Affable; genial. 3. Carefree and gay; jaunty. young writer, and also brought in Tucci, with whom he'd co-directed the independent hit ``Big Night.'' The actors worked for $100 a day, plus a deferred minimum salary. The movie was shot in 16 days. Based on what the filmmakers shot for the initial amount, they were able to raise more money. By the time salaries were paid and post-production was completed, the actual cost of the movie was about $500,000. Passed over by Sundance The movie was passed over by the Sundance Film Festival, which Mottola remembers as ``devastating'' to his prospects for selling the movie. ``Distributors have a herd mentality Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Examples of the herd mentality include the early adopters of high technology products such as cell phones and iPods, as well as stock market trends, ,'' he said. ``They think Sundance is the only place to buy independent American films, so it's like, if you don't get into Sundance, you might as well burn the negative. You'll never get anywhere.'' More than a year later, the movie was acquired by New York-based distributor Cinepix Film Properties, or CFP 1. CFP - Constraint Functional Programming. 2. CFP - Communicating Functional Processes. 3. CFP - Call For Papers (for a conference). , which submitted it to other festivals. Since then, things have turned around. Mottola is now discussing potential projects with producer James L. Brooks (``Bottle Rocket A bottle rocket is a very small skyrocket. A typical bottle rocket consists of a rocket engine attached to a stabilizing stick. The user can place the stick in an empty bottle (hence the name), and ignite the rocket engine; the mouth of the bottle guides the stick, stabilizing the ,'' ``Broadcast News''), and writing a script that has drawn interest from 20th Century Fox. ``I want to keep it small, so you don't feel the pressure to make it more palatable to everybody,'' he said. He anticipates being able to pay his cable television bill in the near future. But the scarcity of money didn't scare off Verb 1. scare off - cause to lose courage; "dashed by the refusal" daunt, frighten away, frighten off, scare away, pall, scare, dash intimidate, restrain - to compel or deter by or as if by threats actress Hope Davis, whose stage performances in New York had inspired Mottola to tailor the part of Eliza for her. New to low-budget game ``I thought the script was so beautiful and so well-written that I could not imagine that it wouldn't somehow all work out,'' she said. ``Also, I was kind of new to this low-budget game, and I just wanted the experience of making the film.'' That translated into a lot of seemingly endless days and nights, while the cast and crew hustled to get the story covered before their scant funds ran out. ``We just kept rolling and rolling,'' remembers Davis. ``That scene I shot with my dad (played by Pat McNamara Patrick John McNamara (born 11 August 1951) is the former Deputy Premier of Victoria, Australia, having led the National Party for eleven years. He resigned from office in 1999 after the loss of the Liberal/National coalition government. ), where we're embracing on the sidewalk, was shot at about 5 in the morning, and it was freezing. We were just trying to get the shot before the sun came up.'' Davis also appears in another recent independent film that is drawing attention - ``The Myth of Fingerprints,'' which screened at Sundance. Her startling star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. , sexually outspoken persona in that movie, about the sadness within a dysfunctional New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. family, couldn't be more different than the quiet, vulnerable performance she gives in ``The Daytrippers.'' Davis is pleased at the contrast. ``I really love what I'm doing right now, and I'd love to keep doing it, so the more possibilities people see in me, the better.'' Currently, her blond good looks and vivid sense of interior life are drawing comparison to Gwyneth Paltrow - all the more ironic because Davis has twice been in productions (including ``The Myth of Fingerprints'') in which she played the daughter of actress Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner, born February 3, 1943 in Philadelphia, United States, is an Emmy and Tony Award winning American actress. She is also the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow. , who is Paltrow's mom. ``Well, I don't think we really look alike, but I don't mind when people say it,'' said Davis. ``She's beautiful and a terrific actress.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Anne Meara Anne Meara (born September 20, 1929) is an American comedienne and actress. She and Jerry Stiller are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller. Biography Personal life , left, Liev Schreiber and Parker Posey A posey can be a flower bouquet. As a surname it is of French and English origins, originating and or derived from the greek word Desposyni. People whose surname is or was Posey include:
(2) Greg Mottola: ``Our camera was stolen on the first day of filming. ... I had named the production company Fiasco, and someone told me that had been a bad idea.'' |
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