“Go for what you like. If you are passionate, you will it to work and through that comes success. If you paint a great picture, you make a great movie.”
Yet another highly influential figure from the film industry delivered a Q&A to the NFTS students and it doesn’t get more influential than Harvey Weinstein! Introduced by NFTS Director, Nik Powell as having ‘the single biggest influence of a non-director on the independent film industry’, Harvey spoke to the students via Skype from his offices in New York. (If you would like to benefit from masterclasses like this one, applications for a range of MA and Diploma courses are open now until September 7th to start in January 2018 – these include Masters in Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition and Creative Business for Entrepreneurs and Executives).
An Oscar and BAFTA winning producer and co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Co, Harvey regularly works with directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. His multi-Oscar winning and nominated films include Pulp Fiction, The Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Carol, Lion, The King’s Speech, My Week with Marilyn,Emma, The Lord of the Rings, and The Artist.
Nik opened the questions by asking how the independent film industry had changed over the years and what had remained the same. “Netflix, Google and Amazon are having a big impact and changing the paradigm. I love the magic of the movie theatre and find it hard to deal with the fact that movies are often now relegated to phones. The supply of independent films is diminished by this kind of competition. However, good movies still work if you are tenacious and create the right marketing campaign. Lion and Silver Linings Playbook are good examples of this; they needed time to grow.”
On why he chooses to get involved in particular projects, Harvey reminded the students how he had worked with Nik and his partner Steve Woolley when they started Palace Pictures, on films like Scandal, which is based on the Profumo Scandal of 1963. “I tend to go for provocative or controversial topics like Scandal or emotional subjects like Lion.”
However, sometimes films ‘just resonate.’ Harvey was convinced to back The Artist, despite it being silent, black and white, and lacking well-known actors, because it was so good. Harvey then had to convince the board to go with the movie and decided the only way they would ‘get it’ would be if they saw it “and the rest is history.”
One of the students was keen to know how to be as successful as Harvey! “Go for what you like. If you are passionate, you will it to work and through that comes success. If you paint a great picture, you make a great movie.”
When it comes to qualities Harvey looks for in his co-workers, he listed “loyalty, a good work ethic and a good sense of humour. You need it in our industry – being able to laugh at stuff helps!”
Harvey’s love for the magic of the movie theatre was palpable throughout the Q&A. Answering a question about whether there are any technologies that excite him, Harvey said: “New technology that can make movie theatre going invigorating and that you can’t do at home, excites me.” He counselled the students to brush up on their ‘film grammar’ if they want to be successful: “The more you study film grammar, the more you will succeed. If you can do that when young, then I can guarantee you’ll have a great career. Nik and I carry the history of movies in our genes; the generation today don’t. You’ll get a leg up if you study movies from the likes of François Truffaut.”
Continuing this theme, the film that Harvey picked from his impressive back catalogue as his favourite was Cinema Paradiso: “Cinema Paradiso makes me the most emotional as it’s about our industry. It’s the best love letter I’ve ever seen to the movies.”
Nik asked Harvey to talk about the value of test screenings, which are frequently used in the US to gauge audience reaction before movies are released. He used Trainspotting as an example as he had felt that the film needed to be changed for an American audience due to the difficulty of understanding the thick accents, but when they showed the test screening, “the audience didn’t care about the accents; they loved the movie.” But the test screening for The Talented Mr Ripley, lead to a change to the start and end of the movie, which ultimately made it a success.
Harvey moved onto the importance of great scripts. “If you develop a great script, that’s an equaliser in this industry. If you spend your time doing anything, find that script, or that book.”
One highlight of the Q&A was when NFTS Co-Head of Cinematography, Oliver Stapleton, who worked with Harvey on a number of movies from The Grifters to The Cider House Rules, told Harvey how much he had enjoyed working with him and how his passion for projects had made a real difference. Harvey countered by saying “I thought your work was unparalleled – they were beautiful movies and a credit to you.”
Harvey finished the session by saying: “God bless you with whatever you do.”
For more information on our upcoming course application deadlines, please visit https://www.nfts.co.uk/sign-me-up/deadlines
