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I met a.m. John through family through his wife when we did the adjustment
bureau. together and
we really hit it off for me besarte have all these conversations about
work in and we decided pretty early on that we wanted the
find a project to do together and so one night at dinner he came to me with this
idea
I'm that that he'd had and a and that he'd already been working on what kinda
by the present to him at that time um
I and always wanna write a movie about um American identity
and and my dad grew up in a steel mill town just outside Pittsburgh nature
nights and
I don't know the way he talked about the town was just simple on the best way not
a cliche way was just about
cheetan friends faith and family and faith that tomorrow will be a better day
and I just felt like with the political landscape
headed where it headed I just want to bring back to a conversation about
people
and so this idea natural gas was an incredible backdrop love
you know whether you believe whichever side at least
the issue its there's huge potential gaining huge potential of
why did the decision made not to director self-induced are we got
you know I was a I
it was actually it was the worst moment I'm in the whole process actually it was
last december fifteenth last year and I remember because
it was when all of my work for the year ended and II
I'm was I done a big science fiction movie
that had gone long and so I've been away from my kids and my wife
and I and and then I had this intensive kind of two weeks have
pressed to get the Cameron Crowe movie out that I did and it ended on December
15th
I did the Daily Show was the last thing I did and I and it was on my calendar as
okay that's one my year when I can can relax
I and I realize that night when I went home
I'm after we got the kids down and i sat there for about an hour and realized I
got
I have to go into pre-production January 1st the permanent directed
and I can do that Kanaka Gus no I called John
okay and had that sounds on cover producing the movie is well in hand
had a producer's comes isn't that was really horrible
you know because E because I put him in a really tricky spot cuz you know she
said
you can you told me a month ago and i said im so I'm just
was too selfish to do that I was the labeling tarrytown on Chris yet excise
that I can
agent on the phone with a little over 100 director we can even get our agents
on the phone
um so a it was rough but I knew that it was the right thing for the movie I knew
it was the right thing for my life
and you know he the last thing he wanted as a producer and actor was a
have distracted director let's talk about the directing a little bit easier
is there
as this guy is a come this close to directing a movie before is this was the
closest
causes I and and tell me how you how you get gas then
well the next morning we were leaving to go down to florida
i'm for the holidays and and we I was in the pool on the plane up feeling
horrible
and I and I emailed us and told them
everything that happened and I told miss the script and I
I think it's great and and I'm even talking at all about you know now I
hadn't this is the first it was like a cold call
lives just like I just want you to know that this is going on would you
and and are you are you doing anything and he wrote back no I love your writing
to send it to me and I
and they were telling us to turn our it was the Alec Baldwin moment on the plane
and and i'm looking up like that right
really I just have to send this one I
this I really important words with friends okay
I gotta I and the
and I attach the script from my blackberry and Senate
and the and then turn the phone off and and
we landed in Florida couple hours later I turned around and got the dreaded
any said I want to do it and it was so it was literally
and I thought jon is the producer you know it was
it was really a high moment for me the best thing that I did on the movie was a
fire myself business director
details with experience in making that movie was like especially
you know based on what you guys modern sense was like kinda very
pure time is a really fun compared to like the way things have got in the film
business or was it
like what was it what was the I what making promise land this one we just it
was exactly the same as making good one thing and that's just cuz it's all
everybody take their cue from the director and cast just has a certain way
as being in living and working that
is very relaxed and makes people to people at ease
and puts people in a situation where it's all planned out so the
its everybody gets a chance to kind have do their best work every department
feels really supported and
it's just very there's absolutely no drama
on that you now yeah on the behind the scenes from like it would be the worst
documentary to follow us around
yeah making a really easy movie that problem and it's deceptively it seems
deceptively easy
right and I've been on obviously the other finds upsets there
it just seems like there's no way a movie can ever come out of this process
field obviously done a lot of politically-charged work in the past
at what was how is this different what was your understanding of summer the
underlying issues in the movie before you
for you signed on to direct it
I'm I had never heard over hydraulic fracking mmm
before I have the script and
I very a I think the day after there was a
earthquake and near Akron Ohio
and they were suggesting that is because the
the drilling operation was right there with the earthquake was
so was in the news I think it had been in the news already so I I was absorbing
information
mostly from the screenplay I and talking
with John and about it and then talking with people
in Pittsburgh about it as well are you guys ready for the conversation in terms
of like
mean there's a lot of emotional content corologis a lot of emotional
feelings around this issue that which is both think expressed in the movie but
also
obviously out there in the real world that will lead to look when we were
shooting at
you know pp guys would come up you know where we shouldn't worry about
pennsylvania outside Pittsburgh for
and the people come up you know the first they were shooting is
a guys came up and he said his movie about fracking that this is that's
you know you shouldn't say anything bad about that that's really good we need
this here we need this you know
and that's what that's why the it's so interesting that's because the
because the stakes are so high and you going to drive around and talk to these
people like
first ball they all know what's going on they all have an opinion about it and it
is life or death for a lot of these family farms are
its that's this is a lifeline to them you know this is keeping their the farm
in their hands you know and so
it's a very complicated issue and the so the feelings are very very strong
one of the one of the aspects the movies at your obviously someone works for a
for an energy company era as Frances McDormand and you guys are not
classic villains in the movie I mean you know I'm your your
normal kinda slightly okay people
yeah I know the idea was that was that was too to try to present
people all the characters should feel like people you know
they should feel like a real people to you I mean gas made it decision early on
anonymous wear makeup you know
like no no I don't want any artifice of that was a mistake as well if my
believe me I me too a no I don't fire
eight people I
but that you know E those the care like france character for instance is
you know she keeps saying it's just a job it's you know it's you you see
that her allegiances to her teenage kid is back home in Houston and she's like
you know it's a good job and that's why she's doing it and it's it's
you know we know we these are this is us it should be
it should feel like all of us what you're sort of mindset at this point are
you
what what's the next thing you serve obviously got a go around talk about it
promoted beckoning but just in terms like
what's that what's the concern you know obviously we have a huge
investment you know time and emotion and energy and
in the movie and so you know you you want people to see it and and so the
questions that you know with a movie of this size it was made for $80 million
dollars
are a little less actually I'm because we came in under budget but
I'm but you know that's not be you know it's not a
Jason Bourne movie you know so you don't have the marketing budget there
see so arm you know to get the word out
you do a lot of to an A's and and
and you're hoping for good reviews that's a big part of it i mean in the
reviewers know that if they can films of this size like live and die
a lot the time based on right reviews and you know book cedars
based on you know the the how strong reviews are and then he then you're on
the phone like
talking to the theater owner you know in Coolidge Corner going like look man come
on
come on have to pay you pretty fit in there you don't really do dinner
you don't really want Lincoln I
I come on everybody's got that I
grateful thank you guys for coming i sync
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