My name is Stephen Wilkes. I'm a photographer and an artist and a
first-time director and we're here to talk about the film my first documentary
feature that I did on my mentor Jay Maisel here.
I know Jay for over 40 years now.
he's really been a very important part of my life and at this point in my life
as an artist you know I've been working for many years in your perspective on
things that made a difference in your life you've become very clear about and
when Jay called me and said hey man I gotta sell it and I was shocked almost
like sell, I didn't even register and he said no I
gotta sell the bank man I can't afford to keep it any more like the thought of
that place disappearing it was almost for me personally was
almost unbearable to be frank because my formative years in the business were in
the bank you know and meeting him and I do love always the point when I first
met my wife he looked at her and he goes so what exactly are your intentions you
know he was a very maternal.
Stephen has a lot of hyperbole when he talks about
me which is very nice but the thing that made us relate to each other
was all the things that he's just spoken about most people would say yeah he's
got a lot of shit you know or yes colorful or yeah it meant something to
him it struck a chord in him and there was the understanding that what a lot of
people don't really care about a lot of he cares about a great deal
most people don't want somebody with a film crew as you're having the most
stressful exactly moment in your life but Jay acquiesce because I think you know
he trusted me and and that's what was about. It was like every time I turned
around I was afraid of when I went to the John I would be somebody in
there waiting. No, mic'd, filmed! He was very very patient about it I gotta say the
cinematographer I mean Stephen shot but he had a cinematographer also. Jason
Greene great kid yeah. Like I tortured that poor bastard I really did it was a
bizarre experience because the last thing I really wanted was to see Stephen
again and Jason and the sound guy and this well I had to deal with 15 moving
men and 30 truckloads and where am I gonna might gonna put it in here am I
gonna put it there what's gonna happen to it. There's a great
piece in that you'll see in the DVD an outtakes that we have from that's gonna
be part of the DVD where Jay goes you know I could have I could have done this I
could have done this I could done this but you I could have said no to. It would have made
life very easy but you know the thing is.. No but I
couldn't say no because you've been hocking me about this for years.
Nobody had you know 35,000 square feet and in a building by themselves you
know that he could essentially you know do whatever they wanted to in every room
and and Jay had that kind of a space and Jay is the kind of unique artist that
could actually you know take his creative energy and channel it into
rooms like that well I described him as a creative amoeba
and so I wanted to paint a portrait of Jay in a way that really made you the
viewer understand him in a very whole incomplete way it really captured the
essence of who he is as a person and an artist but I also wanted to get inside
of the way photographer thinks.
You know the one thing that nobody talks about
is that documentaries are usually pretty stayed, quiet, thoughtful they're never
funny. He did a funny movie and it.. Well youre funny guy
I'm terribly serious. Oh you but you're terribly funny sometimes and and that's
part of your personality if I didn't capture his humor then that's I've
missed a big part of his portrait you know.
I mean you couldn't build a rock
this good, although I have a friend who makes rocks.
I will tell you this I
thought he was full of beans I never thought that this was worth a
movie I never thought he could make something out of it because to me was my
life I mean I don't have any exalted opinion of myself I'm a guy who is in
a process at all time and I just didn't think he could make a
movie I mean what's the conflict what's the drama and and he did he had
more of an ability to have a comprehensive view of me than I did
because I was so involved in it we can ever see yourself I would have
bet money that I wouldn't amount to a hill of beans and I was wrong well you
you know it's hard to judge your own character you like you like to say Jay
it's hard to smell yourself and but I had a very good scent on who
he is and what he does and and the kind of person he is the kind of character he
is and I just thought he embodies so many interesting different things that
I've grown up with watching and seeing firsthand and I just thought and had
just you know this whole opportunity this like I said this intersection the
move, where he was in his life, where I was in my life, and I'm wanting to just
tell that story it was just the perfect timing so I'm just I'm happy that you
allowed me to basically torture you.. I didn't allow you to, you took over.
We do not take pictures.
We're taken by pictures.
There will not be a volume 2. He's determined that already. I wanted to do
I'm back but I'm back I'm back!