Film Courage: If I'm understanding this correctly then so Quentin Tarantino didn't want to meet with you
until the film [QT8: THE FIRST EIGHT] was finished? Tara Wood, Filmmaker: Oh yes so part of that conversation with him and
giving his blessing was that yeah he made it very clear that he did not want
to meet me and I was I was kind of crushed no it's like maybe I thought I
could use them as a reference or actually to check things with them to
make sure that I was doing things correctly and he's like no no no nope
we'll meet afterwards that's interesting and he's a hundred percent right of
course of course because he understands all aspects of filmmaking including if
he was part of it it could be viewed as bias right and it would have been
especially after the things that have come down
during making the film so he was he was absolutely right to not be involved
thanks Quentin? Film Courage And you started filming the first interview when? What
year was this? Tara: I think late 2015? Film Courage: Okay, so different things have happened
since then, different news items. What was your feeling on including some things or
maybe not including some things in the film? Tara: So while we were making film we
were almost we had a few more interviews to go and The Weinstein Company
approached us to buy the film and ultimately we ended up doing that deal
mainly because i was like well this guy has been Quentin's partner through all
of his films today you know from Reservoir Dogs through at that time was
The Hateful Eight so it seemed to make sense and we were gonna finish it together and
then things went terribly wrong
you know obviously outside of anybody's control except his maybe but I knocked
over 5th right the New York Times article dropped
and where were you that day? I was doing in bed and I was up and I was
going through the news and and I saw that and we were already a little bit at
odds me just because of them being who they are and how they do business so
that it was very aggressive you know so we were already kind of having a hard
time so and this happened and knowing the past and being a woman when this
came to light I was like oh yes oh no my film like now what so it it was a
year-long battle to get the film back and get the rights back and it was
definitely very difficult for the film and for the for the nuts and bolts of
that and as a woman it was really it was a really it was very lonely because
nobody wanted to help once that happened you know got very quiet sure so and I
feel that's true for women on the personal side so that there was a lot of
crossovers personally and business-wise where it was very like wow like the the
feelings that go along with with that I know I'm being vague and I kind of
apologize for that but it's not it's it was just it was a very difficult dark
lonely year but fighting for the film especially after doing most of the
interviews at that time and learning about Quentin and learning about him and
how he feels about social issues and women in general I was like I have to
fight for this film like I have to or else it's just gonna fall into the abyss
I don't even know how many other films are still caught up in filmmakers like
it's not know most of them have knocked out in their films back
so I fought very hard it was a very hard battle but ultimately we won so it's a
great story yeah and then we had to revisit how
we're gonna end the film because we had interviewed with Bob Weinstein, Harvey
was supposed to be involved Harvey was always part of the conversation because
it was Harvey and Quentin and we're talking about his filmography of course
you talk about Harvey and his participation in that Harvey was the one
who took a chance on Quentin so that's very much a part of the story and now
that changed right well now the story had to change and Quentin now is out
with regard to that right that partnership was done so we had to
address it and I hope I took care of it well I tried to present it without side
like this is what happened and then we and then we move on so there was a lot
of decisions from what started out as this amazing I got this great project
and everybody's supportive and everybody's showing up you know Sam
Jackson shows up and he's like I called Quentin he said to show up awesome you
know to all of this horrible stuff happening and now but now we're back
right so now now we're up and we're going and we're gonna finish the film
and and again now you're caring you know like okay right honey and you figure it
out and it's hopefully it's well done and it had been in all the trades that
the weinstein company had picked up the film correct yes
so is anywhere yeah yeah okay yeah it was a big deal is a big deal for Pete
you know because it was a Tarantino doc and his association with Quentin but
then all these other filmmakers that are caught up in the same issue on the
business side right and then again the whole other conversation which overlaps
for for Quentin and uma had issue Rose McGowan, Mira Sorvino who you know
was Quentin's girlfriend back then you know pieces of that had come out it was
it was crazy it was crazy and as much as you
try to separate it it's very entwined for everybody
personally in business wise and it set off basically this new me to movement
essentially of many people coming forward and not just women but men as
well and and so now thankfully yeah conversation mmm-hmm
are you okay we're talking about because you decided to pull the film from them
or do you not if you don't talk about it we don't have to know sure when you
decided to pull the film and look for a new distributor what was a reaction from
people in the industry so okay so when I when I did get the film back there were
definitely mixed responses when I went back into the marketplace to find
another distributor ultimately I decided to partner with Entertainment squad who
shaked Berenson who came from epic epic pictures we partnered him and we're
putting it out so eventually I was like I'm done with these conversations
because there is there was definitely a lot of fear especially since I included
the confident the conversation so yeah so when I reinterred the marketplace
with it it was it was very mixed some people were like well why don't you pull
that out you know why don't you just not have that conversation and documentary
because what does that really have to do with Quentin's filmography I had a
really hard time being like oh that totally makes sense I should take that
out it didn't it just didn't make sense so I was like I'm gonna do what I feel
is the truth sure and present that and we went a different way with the
distribution which is really exciting so it's just interesting is I I've known a
few other documentary filmmakers who were in the middle of a film and a
scandal broke and for them not to put it in the film would just be like it I mean
I get not totally focusing on it having it
the main crux of the movie but it just wouldn't work like they would be so
severely criticized for not at least saying something right so so then
there's that there's so you're damned if you do and damned if you don't so I was
like well here it is and you do what you want with it
but that's how I feel it comes across in the documentary this is what happened
you know feel however you want about and that's been very mixed to the reaction
from women obviously is wow that's really great that that's in there but
then there's the next step I didn't know Quentin with such a woman's advocate you
know I didn't realize that his characters were written from from this
feeling rather than what he's accused of or being abusive with his actresses or
his characters or what-have-you so I I hope that women revisit Quentin's
filmography with a different eye i I know
well I always I was always there I think but you know a lot of women have been
turned off by you know the blood and the violence and this and that but if you
again with all of that stuff when you understand where all of that is coming
from with Quentin he's it's not as Sam Jackson says to scratch his nails on the
blackboard he doesn't do that it all comes from the very it's a much deeper
place and I think women should revisit I think they'll really dig some of these
characters I mean who both umas character in Kill Bill whichever the
bride Beatrix whichever name you want to choose to call her but the bride story
is amazing you know she was she was her child was taken from her she's
got all these issues going on and and she's like I'm gonna get rid of those
people so he takes it to an extreme but he takes that emotion to an extreme and
it's really it's a great ride but it's much more meaningful yeah it should be
written off women need to revisit and really look at them any advice for
filmmakers who are in the middle of a film or
even at the tail end of one filming whatever editing and something
newsworthy happens and their choice and and how they're gonna be criticized
either either way I wrestled for months with it like literally sat down and
stopped editing I was like what am I gonna do with this and I and I went back
and forth because you have your own opinions and weight my advice would be
to wait until you realize that you're not inputting your opinion and you're
just presenting and it should be included possibly I mean it's obviously
case by case but if it's something that's like in this case that that's so
important to that story and that in Quentin's filmography here
specifically it does apply to include it but I had to wait until it was clear
right so I did I didn't want to present my opinion of it that would have been a
very different documentary and would have skewed it so as a documentarian you
really have to make sure that your mindset has settled and you're
delivering it as it is yeah one of the filmmakers that I have
talked to that encountered a very big scandal and was in the middle of their
film they used headlines to show because I mean they couldn't not by use
headlines actually yeah and that that was a way to just show that this was not
you that was it was not your opinion it was what was out there
exactly yeah and then you have a careful which headlines choose to you know the
wit the way they're written are you are you throwing this in people's faces or
you know make sure it's again this is just me I want to make sure that it was
when somebody said something and the headline that's what they said right
now I guess I'm jumping into fake news out there yeah be careful not to pick
the fake news right but I guess that's true
you know that's tough that's really it was really hard
that's it was a very very difficult decision and then making the decision
how do you tell it right I chose not to have just like a did a voiceover like
it's all the actors speaking there's no voiceover in the in the film so we chose
Michael Madsen's telling of what happened to go over that montage right
and we used footage that we've seen before from Quentin's films under it so
that you're you're looking at the same thing differently right
so with regards to that story specifically again with Harvey, Quentin
well this was going on at the same time that these were going on mm-hmm
guitar mm-hmm so then there's that then there's the device you used to tell the
story