|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
08/03/2007
Film Festival Q&A... with Charlie Wilson and Alex GregorCharlie Wilson and Alex Gregor are actors volunteering to help directors, actors and other VIP guests of the Traverse City Film Festival get from place to place. Wilson, 26, studied acting at New York University and still lives in New York, where he acts, directs and produces plays for off-off-Broadway. He consulted with Kurt Vonnegut Jr. when he worked on a production of the late author's play "Happy Birthday Wanda June.” He attended high school in Cincinnati and his family now lives in northern Michigan. Gregor, 29, lives in London and has acted in theater, commercials and had a small part in the movie "Wit” with Emma Thompson. He began medical school in New Zealand, but switched to acting after friends pointed out to him how excited he got talking about theater. Wilson invited his friend Gregor to volunteer with him. The two met while Wilson spent a semester in London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. RE: What do you do for the festival? WILSON: Our job is everything from insuring that their flights show up exactly when they want and making sure they get to the festival on time and from the time they arrive to the time they leave, make sure they have the best time possible. GREGOR: Charlie's been with the festival since the beginning and he said that most festivals are a marketplace. The experience the VIPs get here should be like no other film festival. They have a relaxing time. They get to interact with their audiences more. They don't have to worry about studio bosses pitching films. WILSON: I was listening in on an interview with (comedy writer and director) Larry Charles last night and they asked him, "What other film festivals would you compare Traverse City to?” He said it was a unique experience. He's been to Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, Toronto (film festivals). You bring your movies there with the hopes that you're going to get distribution. So most of them have been telling us it can be a very glamorous and exciting experience, but it's not relaxing. Traverse City is sort of the opposite. They're so surprised at how beautiful northern Michigan is. Right when they get off the plane, they say, "I had no idea it looked like this.” RE: I take it you guys are friends. GREGOR: Yeah. We love comparing the state of each other's theater and the film industry. I sort of look longingly toward New York as the place to be and Charlie looks that way somewhat toward London. RE: Is this a good opportunity for people with your aspirations? GREGOR: If you were to come here as an actor not to volunteer, perhaps. You can meet the Oscar-winning directors in a friendly environment. But it's not somewhere they want to be hounded. Charlie and I are trusted to be with these people as professionals looking after them. RE: I would think that might work to your advantage, because they can see you in a casual atmosphere. Have some of them found out you're into acting? GREGOR: Somewhat. The VIPs have a lot of commitments and they're rushed from place to place. They want to see as much as they can, so there's not a lot of time to sit and talk about each other's histories. We do research on everyone before they arrive. I suspect they don't do the same for us. (Laughter) But that's how it should be. RE: Then why did you come? You both came a long way to do this. WILSON: If we were to come here and our goal was networking, then that wouldn't serve our purposes that well, because it would be clear that's what we're here for. I'm here because I love this area. I've gotten to travel quite a bit and northern Michigan is by far my favorite place on earth. Living in New York, I could probably see all of these movies. But I'm mostly here because I think this is great what Michael (Moore, festival co-founder and Oscar winning filmmaker) is doing for the community up here and for the film industry. It's important to reinforce the idea that films are for an audience. The impression of people in the industry is people from the Midwest are not interested in independent or intellectual films. Michael's saying that's not the case. They don't mind reading subtitles and they don't mind if the movie only cost $50,000 to make.
|
|
