It's not enough that Lauren Shuler Donner is one of
the most successful producers in Hollywood, her films span a
dizzying range of genres, including comic book blockbusters
(X-Men, X2, Constantine), comedies (You've
Got Mail, Three Fugitives, Mr. Mom), political gems
(Dave, Bulworth), sports flicks (Any
Given Sunday), family films (Free Willy
1-3) magical fantasies (Ladyhawke) and
teen classics (St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink).
And guess where she’s going next: television!
It was my pleasure to learn more about Ms.
Shuler Donner's astonishing career and her insightful
perspectives on the business.
HGEN:
Looking at your career and all the things you've
accomplished, what do you see as your greatest triumph so
far?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
My marriage….It's very important for one to keep
priorities straight. My priority is my husband. An
accomplishment also, from my work, is that I’m comfortable
in making a movie in any genre.
HGEN:
What do you think it is that gives you the flexibility to
handle all these different genres?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I don't know. My preference is comedy and
romantic comedy but when it came to filming X-Men,
I had tackled some visual effects in Free Willy
and so I felt that I wanted to make an action movie with
effects. And once I tried it, I really liked it.
I think it's a matter of understanding what
components make each of these genres work. It's
understanding that you need to make a family movie, not a
parent punisher. You have to make it so that adults like it
too, and that means making the movie a little bit edgy, a
little bit more grown-up than a lot of these other movies
do.
When it comes to making an action film, I
think it's understanding that it’s all about character. So
that, it's not just 'bang bang blow 'em up' but it's got
personal space – that you care about the characters. That
way, for one thing, you'll cross over and get a female
audience, from a business sense.
HGEN:
I understand you get very involved in story development. I
wonder if you could talk a little about the creative process
that you go through in taking a story from conception to
film.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Again, it’s all about character. It’s about
creating in-depth characters that the audience knows from
the inside and out. Understanding what is at stake. For me,
all movies are about what the main character wants. In other
words, will Dorothy get home? Will Bogart get Berman? It’s
basically what keeps you in your seat. What is Rosebud? I
try to work with that to make sure there’s a conflict, make
sure that the stakes are constantly being escalated, that
there’s a satisfactory resolution and twists and turns that
you don’t expect, subplots that lead us to the main plot. My
process is just to go into the script in depth.
Usually, I’ll meet with a writer, we’ll flesh
out the story, and then the writer will go back and flesh it
out even more, come back and pitch it to me and when
satisfied, we take it to the studio.
Then with the director, we’re incorporating
their vision, hopefully, with my vision because it’s always
hard to give up your baby. That’s the hardest part about
developing a script is that the director comes on and you
have to turn it over at a certain point.
HGEN:
The curse of the collaborative medium.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Yeah! Not really. You must be careful to hire
someone who shares your vision.
HGEN:
What is it about the producer role that’s always been an
attraction for you?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
It’s more and more creative. It used to be that I
would line produce my own movies. Now because I do multiple
movies, I have a line producer on each movie and then I can
to focus on the creative aspects, within obvious certain
parameters… I find that part of me has a good business mind
and part of me is creative. Being a producer satisfies both
those areas.
HGEN:
You haven’t been tempted to write or to direct?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Well, I sometimes write with my writers. I get
satisfied that way. It depends on who they are and what the
project is, but I have become very involved in written
pages.
As for directing, you know, I always say one
day if I find a nice, small movie, I’ll do a movie on HBO.
I don’t know that I physically have the stamina …I think I
could direct a good movie but I don’t think I have the
stamina to direct a feature film. It’s extremely demanding.
HGEN:
Well, while we’re there, why don’t we talk a little bit
about your view on HBO and Showtime and this recent
blossoming of feature length projects on cable. Do you have
any thoughts on that?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
No, I think it’s great. Particularly HBO. They
are astounding. They cast well. They sell well. And their
films are always of the highest quality. My hat is off to
them. I think they’re amazing.
And I believe that Showtime is trying, also. I
believe that they are looking for the same kind of product
and I’m sure they will…I think it’s great. I think all the
cable programming is great – FX, SciFi, USA.
Monk is a great show. Battlestar Gallactica
[too]. They’re doing a good job.
HGEN:
As someone who started in TV, what trends have you seen,
especially over the last few years. What trends do you
expect going forward, in that medium?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Well I think network’s going to get killed.
Because of [their] programming…Whenever there’s an original
program that does well from All in the Family
to now, Lost, and yet the networks always want
the same old thing. And that never fails to surprise me...
But I think it’s more exciting now in cable and I would like
to venture into television myself. In fact I’m going to.
HGEN:
Can you talk a little bit about that?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I can’t, actually. It’s a project with a great
director who I am delighted to be in business with and I
can’t talk about it yet.
HGEN:
Okay, well, when it is time to talk about it, we’d love to
hear more about it. We’ll save you the surprise for an
appropriate time.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Okay, Great.
HGEN:
Back to what you were talking about – when an original show
takes off but the networks want the same old same old. Do
you not see an analogous thing happening with the studios?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I think with the addition of the smaller studios
–- the Focus Films and Searchlight -- that if
studios are not being more adventurous then their smaller
companies are.
It’s harder to get an unusual movie made. Yes
and no. I mean, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
was an unusual movie. And yet…if you can find an element –-
if you can find a great actor or a great director that wants
to make your movie, you can get it made. I suppose it’s the
same in television. I don’t know it well enough.
HGEN:
Let’s talk a little bit about film and what trends you’ve
seen over the years. Looking back over your career, what
kinds of changes have you noticed in filmmaking?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I think the teen movie has changed. When I made
St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, we
treated teens like adults. I think a lot of the teen movies
today aren’t thought provoking enough. We have one,
actually, that we’re going to make, hopefully at Warner
Brothers but [most teen movies today] don’t have enough
depth. Breakfast Club had great depth. I’d
love to see more of those. There’s nothing wrong with
American Pie, which I really liked, but I’d also
like to see other teen movies with more depth.
HGEN:
Other trends you’ve noticed over time?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Well certainly, the comic book movie. You know,
it’s another way. I think Action movies they’re tired of
that kind of ‘blow ‘em up] kind of movies and comic book
movies gave us a new way to have action movies and, what I’m
happy about is also that there are women who are in those
comic book movies that are very capable also. And that
certainly has changed since the [films] of the past.
HGEN:
Are you referring to women as characters or behind the
scenes?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
As characters. Behind the scenes, too. I mean,
most of us producers of comic book movies are women.
HGEN:
Why do you think that is?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I have no idea. Because we’re better producers, I
s’ppose. Ha! No, I really don’t know. I think it just sort
of happened.
HGEN:
Other trends, either in the past or going forward? What do
you expect to see over the next five or ten years?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I think there will always be the family film
because there is a need for that. Comedies will always be a
value. Always. People want to laugh. The world gets tougher
and tougher and we want to laugh even more.
I don’t see the sci-fi area breaking out…but
maybe with War of the Worlds, Spielberg
will be able to put those movies back on the map. I’d love
to see that. They’re so wonderful and imaginative! They’re
very hard to do and do well. [Films like] Bladerunner
-- good sci-fi – they’re very hard to do well.
You know, what? There’s going to be a lot of
family movies, a lot of animal movies coming up. George
Bush in America has a certain influence. You’re going to
see movies that appeal to a more religious body. You’re
going to see more “P.C.” movies, I believe. I think the
studios, unfortunately, are paying attention to our last
election. Unfortunately, but it’s true. You want to sell
tickets -- it’s a business.
HGEN:
Coming back full circle to your career, what have been your
greatest challenges over the years, professionally?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I guess every time I try a new genre, it’s a big
challenge. And you know what the challenge is? The challenge
is to stay artistic. A lot of times, the studio will say
“well, we’ll make this movie with X director” or “we’ll make
it with X actor” and you know that’s the wrong person. But
that’s the only way to get the movie made. And then, the
challenge is: alright, do I just get the movie made? Wrong.
Or do I say no and never get the movie made? And it’s really
an artistic question versus commerce and I find that that’s
the hardest. And I find the studios more and more would
rather we didn’t stand up and have an opinion but obviously,
a lot of us have been very successful, doing what we do.
HGEN:
Is challenge pushing back or is the challenge staying
artistic within the constraints in which you’re finding
yourself? Or both?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Both. One can be artistic within the constraints,
but it just depends what those constraints are. And yes, you
push back but to a point and then you lose and the studio’s
not going to support your movie. So, there’s always a
balance.
HGEN:
You’ve made so many, for lack of a better word, special
films. Such a special quality – if you look at
Ladyhawke or Dave, there’s such a
special, almost magical quality in them. Where do you think
that comes from?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Oh, I don’t know. I just like to put a lot of
heart in our movies, so maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s just
being conscious of putting in heart and liking those magical
qualities myself. It’s what makes any good book stand out
and every good movie stand out.
HGEN: Do you think it’s intrinsic
to the story or do you think it emerges from the
collaboration so it’s not just the story, it’s the people
involved in the telling of that story cinematically.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I’d say it’s probably both.
HGEN:
If you could change one thing in Hollywood, what would you
change in the film business?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I suppose I would change their age-istic point of
view. It’s a very age-istic society and that’s a shame.
There’s a lot of older talent that is shunned and not used.
HGEN:
Both in front and behind the camera?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Right.
HGEN:
What about your future projects – Secret Life of Bees,
etc?
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Yes! Secret Life of Bees will be filming
this summer and David Gordon Green is directing it.
X-Men 3 will be filming this summer and hopefully
we’ll also be shooting, at the moment it’s called Dude
Looks Like a Lady – it’s actually Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night set in high school.
HGEN:
Well Secret Life of Bees was another magical story.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
I like magical. I really like magical realism.
HGEN:
Thank you so much for taking this time to talk to us.
Congratulations on all your success and best wishes – you
don’t need this, but best wishes on these projects that so
many people are looking forward to.
LAUREN SHULER DONNER:
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
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