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Home - Film
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All Things Cinema
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Omaha’s film community fixes to get its fest on
by Leo Adam Biga
Now in its fifth year of invigorating the local cinema scene, the Omaha Film Festival and Filmmaking Conference is part of the creative class boom that’s drawing attention to local culture.
A film fest is only as good as its movies and participants. By that measure the OFF arrived some time ago, offering relevant pics and panelists. Film nerds and aspirants should check the prequel conference, where the nuts-and-bolts and falderal of the film industry get their due.
Panelists have included how-to-write-a-script guru Lew Hunter, screenwriter Shane Black (Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang), Oscar-nominated visual effects artist Neil Krepela (Heat) and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Mauro Fiore (Avatar).
This year’s two-day conference, March 6-7, at Creighton University’s Hixson-Lied Science Building, features another varied, albeit all-male, lineup.
Actor Chris Klein will describe what it’s like to be a working actor in Hollywood 11 years after Alexander Payne discovered him in Omaha for Election. Klein’s back for the first time pimping a new film, Caught in the Crossfire, whose newcomer writer/director Brian Miller, and veteran producer Randall Emmett (Righteous Kill), will talk shop.
First-time panelist Andy Stock may find himself explaining a pair of mean-spirited comedies (Balls Out and The Goods) he co-wrote.
If it seems panelists Nik Fackler and Dana Altman have been discussing Lovely, Still for a few years it’s because they have. The film was made in 2007, it premiered at Toronto in 2008 and still awaits general release. Juicy anecdotes about its stars, Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn, would be welcome.
Then there’s the old guard of Omaha’s film community, Oscar-winning editor Mike Hill, half of Ron Howard’s cut team from Nightshift through Angels and Demons.
New this year are brothers Daniel Petrie Jr. and Donald Petrie, the screenwriter and director sons, respectively, of the late filmmaker Daniel Petrie.
The Reader caught up by phone with Hill and the Brothers Petrie.
Hill’s next Howard assignment is a comedy starring Vince Vaughn. Long collaborations between directors and editors are not rare, but working with the same editing team, as Howard’s done for decades with Hill and Dan Hanley, is unusual.
“We don’t really analyze it,” said Hill. “Now, whenever we start the next movie, we just say, ‘Geez, can you believe it, here we go again.’ You kind of forget how much time has passed and each movie still seems fresh. You take each job one at a time. They each have their own set of problems.”
Hill, who’s cut some local indie films, said he’s oft-approached by wannabes. He tells them “if you’re really serious about it you have to go out to L.A. and dip your foot in the water there.” As daunting as a feature career may seem, one need only look at himself, Fiore, Payne, Fackler, Altman, editor Tom Elkins, who apprenticed with Hill, and other Nebraskans working in the industry to find encouragement.
While he said “there’s more possibilities in Omaha now” for cultivating film passion, he paints state lawmakers’ rejection of film tax incentives as a statement against Hollywood values. “It’s that kind of thinking that doesn’t move anything forward,” he said.
But there’s much to like about the emerging film scene. He champions Fackler’s work and admires Film Streams and the OFF.
Thirty years into his own career Hill’s still entranced by the exploratory process of editing. “When I start a new project I always feel like I’m starting over again each time.”
His upcoming project will be the first comedy he’s worked on in a decade after a string of Howard thrillers and dramas. He considers comedy the most difficult to cut. Whatever the genre, and Howard’s tried most, Hill said he’s always surprised by the dailies. “Ron never quite does what I think he’s going to do.”
Hill and Hanley have free rein during the shoot, editing on location. It’s only in post-production Howard becomes more involved, but even then it’s just notes. “He doesn’t sit in with us much,” said Hill. “That basic approach has not changed at all over the years. The trust factor he has in us is what makes everything work so well.”
He said the three of them embrace a classical approach of letting scenes play out, holding on a shot and only cutting for a compelling reason. But there are exceptions.
As a moviegoer Hill said that when he views a really bad movie he can only think about the editing, but he forgets “about the editing completely” during a great film. Avatar passed the test. “It’s an incredible piece of work.”
Meanwhile, the L.A.-based Petries are eager to visit old haunts of their father, who taught in Creighton’s speech department in the late 1940s and became an Omaha live-television pioneer. Daniel Petrie Jr. said his dad caught a young Johnny Carson’s magic act on camera. The elder Petrie went on to direct live television drama in Chicago and New York. His TV movie work won multiple Emmys.
Daniel first found success with The Big Easy. A remake he’s penned updates the New Orleans crime thriller to reflect the post-Katrina environment. Brother Donald (My Life in Ruins) may direct. Daniel scored big with Beverly Hills Cop. He adapted Pictures of Hollis Woods for Hallmark Hall of Fame.
The brothers grew up on sets but their father didn’t push film as a legacy. Each gravitated to it. Daniel started in the ICM mail room and literary department. Donald as an actor.
There is no short cut or clear path for breaking into film, said Daniel. “What’s required is a tremendous amount of persistence in the face of uncertainty,” he said. “Only people with extraordinary commitment really will have that over time, but for those people all things are possible.” Luck helps, but only if you’re prepared for it.
Daniel and Donald will discuss life as a Hollywood writer and director, respectively.
The OFF’s lineup of features and shorts screen March 9-14, at the Great Escape Stadium 16 Theatres. For the schedule and to purchase tickets visit omahafilmfestival.org. |
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