"Whenever filmmakers ask, “Hey, how can I get my first feature going?” I’m like, “Find two partners and get ready to flush four years down the toilet.” It can be done, but you’ve got to work."A new interview with Bruce Campbell on the Evil Dead franchise.
« Older You know which song the very first singing compute... | This is an open letter written... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Bruce came to speak at my college, and he gave us a passioned condemnation of the production world and why it was going to get worse (this is 2003, mind you).
He said that because studios want a bigger return, they are cutting corners wherever possible. Simply, the push for CG is to cut SFX out of the budget, with CG gradually becoming cheaper (at least, that's the idea). "Reality TV" is to cut the writers out and actors out of the budget, this is also why there are a lot of "here's your chance, Average Joe, to be famous." The reasoning is, with the expansion of the indie market and cable tv, the revenue has become less centralized to the major players (I guess he forgot what happened after the Federal Comm. act of 1996, but whatever... he worked hard and he has a chin you don't want to argue with).
He said that the quality of programming and the intelligence of major films will experience a sharp downturn, as these studio heads push for more profits and less overhead. Original plot ideas will be replaced with rehashed ones (old TV shows, and whatnot), sequels will become more prevalent than they are in the horror film realm, as with the rehashing and sequels, you don’t have to have an original idea, you just have to get a writer desperate enough to wanna break into the business.
Again, he wasn’t entirely wrong, it was just that some of his arguments were a little weak. This was especially apparent to those of my college as half the students in the audience were in communications, so they knew about the centralization of media ownership, and the other half were film students, well aware of what was going on in Hollywood.
Mr. Campbell really took issue with sequels, and why it takes away from original and creative endeavors. Anticipating the argument, he justified Evil Dead 2 as an attempt to make Evil Dead with the effects they really wanted, as they now had a substantial budget. It was a valid rebuttal, but then he made the mistake of continuing his hatred of sequels and unoriginal work. If he would have just let that go, the following never would have occurred:
My friend A, stood up:
A – Bruce, first of all, you’re the freakin’ man! I just gotta say that.
Bruce – Thank you…A – As for sequels, where does “Lovebug 2” fit into this?
[hush falls over the audience]
Bruce – You see, with Lovebug 2, it was… Well… uh... What’s your name?
A – Al
Bruce – Shut up, Al
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 8:01 AM on September 13, 2010 [45 favorites]