The Montclair Film Festival has been going strong for five years now, but this year marked the first that yours truly was able to check it out. The film festival is a passion project of the Colbert family, with Evie Colbert as Board Chair and basically a key person in making the 10-day long event a success year after year.
I was able to attend the opening night film and after party, as well as Stephen’s conversation with Richard Curtis on Saturday. Read on for my impression of the Stephen-and-film-filled weekend. [Update] Sharilyn Johnson provides us with an overview of Stephen’s conversation wth Rob Reiner on Sunday.
Opening Night Film & Party
Montclair is a lovely suburban town just outside of New York City. Tree lined streets lead to a mixture of monstrously large, stately mansions, to cozier and brightly painted homes that convey a warm community atmosphere. Home to many who work in media in New York, Montclair bustles with creativity and a variety of performance venues and quirky local businesses.
It is also a socially conscious community. I spotted signs around town trumpeting various social causes, like bumper stickers saying “Stop Human Organ Trafficking in China!” and “No PARCC Testing In This Household!”
The Montclair Film festival, which is now marking its fifth year, is an acknowledgement of the town’s creativity and spirit of social activism, with a week of almost 50 films featured that cover topics as varied as time traveling in love to documentaries about soccer grannies in South Africa. Looking at the selection that passed this year’s jury process, many seem to highlight the experience of regular people in challenging circumstances.
The opening night film, Life, Animated does just that. The film, by director Roger Ross Williams and produced by Judie Goldman, describes the struggles of a young autistic man, Owen Suskind, attempting to live as an independent adult. Scenes of his efforts at independence are interspersed with flashbacks to his childhood; the emergence of his autism at age 3, as well as his family’s difficulty in trying to reach and communicate with their “kidnapped” son, who had developed normally and suddenly became withdrawn and unable to speak.
The topic discussed in the film has deep personal resonance with me, as I have a son who has Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism. It was difficult at points for me to watch the mother’s interview, because I could identify with her frustration at not being able to “cure” her son of his condition, and wanting to be able to provide one’s child with the very best opportunities. That being said, the film has many light moments, and Owen himself is a funny and insightful young man, quite a character and entertaining to watch.
The documentary demonstrates how people with autism often develop very specific, intense personal interests. By a twist of fate, Owen’s father, journalist Ron Suskind discovers that he use could lines of dialogue from Disney films, the only interest that could engage the withdrawn Owen into adapting speech and communicating with the outside world. Owen uses the plot lines and dialogue in Disney films to describe how he feels in different social situations. In particular, he is very good (perfect, really) at imitating Iago in the Disney film Aladdin, which leads to Owen befriending the character’s original voiceover actor, the inimitable Gilbert Gottfried.
A group of funny guys: Robert Smigel, Gilbert Gottfried, Owen Suskind, & Stephen. © Paul Zimmerman | Getty Images (via Zimbio)
Many people may not be aware of how to interact with folks who have autism, but the film does a great job of showing that underneath the impairments of the condition, people with autism have the same desires and aspirations as “regular” people do, but need to be treated with understanding, respect, and sometimes less-than-conventional modifications to help them navigate the world.
After the film concluded, Stephen took to the stage with the cast of the documentary, the Suskind family and Gilbert Gottfried. Gilbert ended up providing a little more comic relief to the admittedly tough subject matter, immediately loading into a Jenny McCarthy masturbation joke – “everything I learned about autism I learned from Jenny McCarthy” – in that wonderfully cranky voice of his.
Also, to my absolute delight, my friends and I discovered that Stephen and Evie were sitting next to Robert Smigel. Robert is not only a good friend of Stephen’s, but also has an autistic child and has been instrumental in Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars, a television benefit very familiar to us, as it has been hosted by Jon Stewart and had many great comics on board to support autism education initiatives.
I suppose it would have made sense for Robert Smigel to have been there, but I was freaking out. He is one of my favorite comedians, and has done some of the funniest comedy pieces I have ever seen.
After the brief discussion was over, I decided that at least I had to try and say hello to Robert. This was the party portion of the event, and glasses of wine and hors d’oeuvres were being passed. I figured it was going to be tough to get face time with Stephen, so I literally reached over Stephen’s jacket and tapped Robert on the shoulder. I then went to introduce myself, tell him I was a huge fan, and deeply appreciate of his efforts to promote autism education funding.
I told him it was always my dream to meet him and tell him this. He couldn’t have been nicer. He spent a lot of time talking to me, even making suggestions in my area for services and trying to give me advice in general. I made sure to point out what a huge geek of a fan of his I am, even having listened to the DVD commentary of his TV Funhouse SNL DVD. Listening to that DVD commentary years ago turned out to be a smart move because it helped me understand how Smigel became acquainted with Stephen and leading to their eventual collaboration on The Dana Carvey Show and The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and all that good stuff that put Stephen on the path that has led us to today.
Speaking of the man himself, I caught Stephen having a conversation with my friends (fangirl posse), which made me happy, and he then joined the circle I was hanging around which included Robert Smigel. I managed to introduce myself once again to Stephen, and we chatted briefly about how he and Robert met and he asked me a question or two. It was beyond surreal to see the both of them in front of me because again I idolize both so much, and tried to indicate this as best as I could without appearing foolish. :/ Stephen was wearing the glasses that we all like, what I now lovingly have termed “the daytime specs.” Although I wanted to thank him and mention a few things to him, unfortunately I wasn’t able to as he was being pulled away to another group behind us.
At this point, I decided to introduce myself to Stephen’s wife Evie, which also ended up being a great idea. She was really kind and gracious to me, I talked to her about being a huge fan of her husband’s (obvi), our blog, and I also thanked her for the Festival choosing a film about autism for the Opening Night. I told her about my son and where I was from, and so on, and it was a lovely and pleasant exchange. It was like two moms talking and hanging out. I basically said the things to her that I had intended to say to Stephen, but I figured it’s all in the family anyways, right? I had always wanted to meet her as well, so it was nice to finally have the opportunity to do so. My friends and I were also admiring her hot pink pumps, a fact I would be remiss in not mentioning.
At that point the Colberts headed off to another room and left the general area we were standing in. I was so overwhelmed! So much happened that we weren’t expecting! I am still kind of shocked.
Conversation with Richard Curtis
Stephen and Richard discussed the origins of Red Nose Day during their conversation. Later, “Love Actually” stars Laura Linney and Chiwetel Ejiofor joined in a tribute evening to honor Curtis. © Paul Zimmerman
The next day led to beautiful spring weather and a conversation with screenwriter, producer and director Richard Curtis in the auditorium at MKA, a local private school. Richard Curtis is known for films like Knotting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones Diary (my personal fave), and the mega-rom-com Love Actually. He is currently spending the year in New York with his family, and is contemplating retiring after a long and prolific career.
These and many other good tidbits we learned from the hour long conversation. It was nice to see Stephen once again bounding onstage for the chat – like all of us here on the Hub I have seen the pictures of previous discussions Stephen has held at MFF over the past couple years, so it was great to be there in person and get a feel for how he approaches these kinds of interviews. One of the people I was with commented that he seems so relaxed as an interviewer in this setting – it does seem like without the demands of production and cameras and such it is pretty effortless for Stephen to lead a great conversation.
I did not take notes during the talk, (boo, Gina) but can give you the gist: Richard is a super brainy gent who went to Oxford and met and fell in comedy-love with Rowan Atkinson aka “Mr. Bean.” Richard had much praise for Atkinson, whom he considers a comedy genius and remembers fondly as a masterful stage performer in their early days. He spoke somewhat about Blackadder, a popular ’80s British sitcom he wrote featuring comedy greats Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, and Atkinson. His experiences from those years led him working on many commercially successful films.
Stephen asked him questions regarding how he chose his subject matter for film and how he became known for romantic comedies. He basically said that he liked writing and producing unconventional story lines in conventional formats (rom coms, for example), and of course was a hopeless romantic, so that helped too.
There were questions about casting, particularly Hugh Grant, who Stephen seemed to slam ever-so-slightly (maybe he was thinking about how Jon Stewart thought he was such a disastrous guest on The Daily Show?) But he did say for one film the part was up between Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, who were both ridiculously handsome, but Hugh Grant was just a touch better for the part. He really believes that the reason that his films did feature so many good-looking matinee idols (like Grant and Colin Firth) was not due to name draw but truly that they could “recite the lines” the best. He said that in many instances 70 actors would audition for a part, but his go-to group of regularly used actors were for him the best casting choices.
He also said that editing is supremely important in film making. During the first test screening of Bridget Jones Diary, the film only got two laughs. When they re-edited it, moving around scenes in a very dramatic way, the hilarious film we see today was the result of the significant amount of re-editing work. I found that quite surprising.
Throughout the talk Curtis’ philanthropic initiatives were discussed. He spoke about how trying to go an expedition to Ethiopia with a pretty girl piqued his interest in the continent and in helping global poverty. As a result, he co-founded Comic Relief and Red Nose Day. The latter “holiday” was formed because the government insisted he to create a special day of the year to establish his fund drive for Comic Relief. He decided upon Red Nose Day.
Given the success of Comic Relief and Red Nose Day, it’s safe to say that Curtis is not only a highly successful and celebrated film maker, but a philanthropist of equal renown as well. These qualities definitely fit in with the vision of the Montclair Film Festival – an entertainer who makes you laugh but also cares about improving the world. That sounds like another person we know – Stephen Colbert.
Sharilyn attended Sunday’s talk with Rob Reiner, and here is her impression of the event below.
Conversation with Rob Reiner
Stephen makes the mistake of drinking a swig of water right before a hilarious “Spinal Tap” reference. | Image Courtesy StephenSmile64
“Oversold” wasn’t a shocking word to hear from the volunteer greeting patrons at Sunday’s long sold-out conversation with director Rob Reiner. Ticket buyers were no dummies: the event was an absolute joy.
Reiner might be the most congenial director in Hollywood, speaking about his experiences with an easiness and modesty that you don’t expect from a living legend. Even when fielding audience questions, he happily retold the story about his mother delivering the “I’ll have what she’s having” line in When Harry Met Sally as though he hadn’t recited it a hundred times before.
The two gelled instantly, and it was no wonder:
“I was raised on improvisation,” Reiner said, as a wide grin spread across Stephen’s face.
Reiner started out doing improv comedy in Los Angeles, with a troupe that developed their scripted sketch shows using the same methods Stephen later employed with Second City. Reiner then joined the famed troupe The Committee, which also counts improv guru Del Close among its alumni (Close would become one of Stephen’s instructors in Chicago).
Reiner graciously deferred to Stephen’s comedy experience several times. Stephen talked about how important it is for his writers to have performing experience so they understand what it feels like to bomb; and how to sense when joke is only going to be good on the page, or if it also has “mouth feel” and will succeed in front of an audience.
Reiner was a writer on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and talked about the censorship issues around what was a groundbreaking political satire at the time. Stephen recalled Tommy Smothers smacking him in the back of the head at the Emmys a decade ago – hard – to get his attention and tell him “I liked the speech you did for the President.”
Stephen remembered his parents having to go out one night to an event, but sat in their bedroom unable to tear themselves away from All in the Family. He recalled their reaction being, “what the hell is this television show… we know these people.”
And perhaps the highlight: Reiner told the “shit sandwich” joke from Spinal Tap, and Stephen made the mistake of taking a swig of water right before the punchline. Cue the napkins.
“I knew what the end of that sentence was,” Stephen laughed, “and now water is coming out of my nose.”
The Montclair Film Festival needs your help! Make a donation today to help give MFF a permanent home; plans include to make the building a year-round film education center. Click here for more details.
Event ReporT(s): Montclair Film Festival 2016's Opening Weekend [Updated]
The Montclair Film Festival has been going strong for five years now, but this year marked the first that yours truly was able to check it out. The film festival is a passion project of the Colbert family, with Evie Colbert as Board Chair and basically a key person in making the 10-day long event a success year after year.
I was able to attend the opening night film and after party, as well as Stephen’s conversation with Richard Curtis on Saturday. Read on for my impression of the Stephen-and-film-filled weekend. [Update] Sharilyn Johnson provides us with an overview of Stephen’s conversation wth Rob Reiner on Sunday.
Opening Night Film & Party
Montclair is a lovely suburban town just outside of New York City. Tree lined streets lead to a mixture of monstrously large, stately mansions, to cozier and brightly painted homes that convey a warm community atmosphere. Home to many who work in media in New York, Montclair bustles with creativity and a variety of performance venues and quirky local businesses.
It is also a socially conscious community. I spotted signs around town trumpeting various social causes, like bumper stickers saying “Stop Human Organ Trafficking in China!” and “No PARCC Testing In This Household!”
The Montclair Film festival, which is now marking its fifth year, is an acknowledgement of the town’s creativity and spirit of social activism, with a week of almost 50 films featured that cover topics as varied as time traveling in love to documentaries about soccer grannies in South Africa. Looking at the selection that passed this year’s jury process, many seem to highlight the experience of regular people in challenging circumstances.
The opening night film, Life, Animated does just that. The film, by director Roger Ross Williams and produced by Judie Goldman, describes the struggles of a young autistic man, Owen Suskind, attempting to live as an independent adult. Scenes of his efforts at independence are interspersed with flashbacks to his childhood; the emergence of his autism at age 3, as well as his family’s difficulty in trying to reach and communicate with their “kidnapped” son, who had developed normally and suddenly became withdrawn and unable to speak.
The topic discussed in the film has deep personal resonance with me, as I have a son who has Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism. It was difficult at points for me to watch the mother’s interview, because I could identify with her frustration at not being able to “cure” her son of his condition, and wanting to be able to provide one’s child with the very best opportunities. That being said, the film has many light moments, and Owen himself is a funny and insightful young man, quite a character and entertaining to watch.
The documentary demonstrates how people with autism often develop very specific, intense personal interests. By a twist of fate, Owen’s father, journalist Ron Suskind discovers that he use could lines of dialogue from Disney films, the only interest that could engage the withdrawn Owen into adapting speech and communicating with the outside world. Owen uses the plot lines and dialogue in Disney films to describe how he feels in different social situations. In particular, he is very good (perfect, really) at imitating Iago in the Disney film Aladdin, which leads to Owen befriending the character’s original voiceover actor, the inimitable Gilbert Gottfried.
A group of funny guys: Robert Smigel, Gilbert Gottfried, Owen Suskind, & Stephen. © Paul Zimmerman | Getty Images (via Zimbio)
Many people may not be aware of how to interact with folks who have autism, but the film does a great job of showing that underneath the impairments of the condition, people with autism have the same desires and aspirations as “regular” people do, but need to be treated with understanding, respect, and sometimes less-than-conventional modifications to help them navigate the world.
After the film concluded, Stephen took to the stage with the cast of the documentary, the Suskind family and Gilbert Gottfried. Gilbert ended up providing a little more comic relief to the admittedly tough subject matter, immediately loading into a Jenny McCarthy masturbation joke – “everything I learned about autism I learned from Jenny McCarthy” – in that wonderfully cranky voice of his.
Also, to my absolute delight, my friends and I discovered that Stephen and Evie were sitting next to Robert Smigel. Robert is not only a good friend of Stephen’s, but also has an autistic child and has been instrumental in Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars, a television benefit very familiar to us, as it has been hosted by Jon Stewart and had many great comics on board to support autism education initiatives.
I suppose it would have made sense for Robert Smigel to have been there, but I was freaking out. He is one of my favorite comedians, and has done some of the funniest comedy pieces I have ever seen.
After the brief discussion was over, I decided that at least I had to try and say hello to Robert. This was the party portion of the event, and glasses of wine and hors d’oeuvres were being passed. I figured it was going to be tough to get face time with Stephen, so I literally reached over Stephen’s jacket and tapped Robert on the shoulder. I then went to introduce myself, tell him I was a huge fan, and deeply appreciate of his efforts to promote autism education funding.
I told him it was always my dream to meet him and tell him this. He couldn’t have been nicer. He spent a lot of time talking to me, even making suggestions in my area for services and trying to give me advice in general. I made sure to point out what a huge geek of a fan of his I am, even having listened to the DVD commentary of his TV Funhouse SNL DVD. Listening to that DVD commentary years ago turned out to be a smart move because it helped me understand how Smigel became acquainted with Stephen and leading to their eventual collaboration on The Dana Carvey Show and The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and all that good stuff that put Stephen on the path that has led us to today.
Speaking of the man himself, I caught Stephen having a conversation with my friends (fangirl posse), which made me happy, and he then joined the circle I was hanging around which included Robert Smigel. I managed to introduce myself once again to Stephen, and we chatted briefly about how he and Robert met and he asked me a question or two. It was beyond surreal to see the both of them in front of me because again I idolize both so much, and tried to indicate this as best as I could without appearing foolish. :/ Stephen was wearing the glasses that we all like, what I now lovingly have termed “the daytime specs.” Although I wanted to thank him and mention a few things to him, unfortunately I wasn’t able to as he was being pulled away to another group behind us.
At this point, I decided to introduce myself to Stephen’s wife Evie, which also ended up being a great idea. She was really kind and gracious to me, I talked to her about being a huge fan of her husband’s (obvi), our blog, and I also thanked her for the Festival choosing a film about autism for the Opening Night. I told her about my son and where I was from, and so on, and it was a lovely and pleasant exchange. It was like two moms talking and hanging out. I basically said the things to her that I had intended to say to Stephen, but I figured it’s all in the family anyways, right? I had always wanted to meet her as well, so it was nice to finally have the opportunity to do so. My friends and I were also admiring her hot pink pumps, a fact I would be remiss in not mentioning.
At that point the Colberts headed off to another room and left the general area we were standing in. I was so overwhelmed! So much happened that we weren’t expecting! I am still kind of shocked.
Conversation with Richard Curtis
Stephen and Richard discussed the origins of Red Nose Day during their conversation. Later, “Love Actually” stars Laura Linney and Chiwetel Ejiofor joined in a tribute evening to honor Curtis. © Paul Zimmerman
The next day led to beautiful spring weather and a conversation with screenwriter, producer and director Richard Curtis in the auditorium at MKA, a local private school. Richard Curtis is known for films like Knotting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones Diary (my personal fave), and the mega-rom-com Love Actually. He is currently spending the year in New York with his family, and is contemplating retiring after a long and prolific career.
These and many other good tidbits we learned from the hour long conversation. It was nice to see Stephen once again bounding onstage for the chat – like all of us here on the Hub I have seen the pictures of previous discussions Stephen has held at MFF over the past couple years, so it was great to be there in person and get a feel for how he approaches these kinds of interviews. One of the people I was with commented that he seems so relaxed as an interviewer in this setting – it does seem like without the demands of production and cameras and such it is pretty effortless for Stephen to lead a great conversation.
I did not take notes during the talk, (boo, Gina) but can give you the gist: Richard is a super brainy gent who went to Oxford and met and fell in comedy-love with Rowan Atkinson aka “Mr. Bean.” Richard had much praise for Atkinson, whom he considers a comedy genius and remembers fondly as a masterful stage performer in their early days. He spoke somewhat about Blackadder, a popular ’80s British sitcom he wrote featuring comedy greats Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, and Atkinson. His experiences from those years led him working on many commercially successful films.
Stephen asked him questions regarding how he chose his subject matter for film and how he became known for romantic comedies. He basically said that he liked writing and producing unconventional story lines in conventional formats (rom coms, for example), and of course was a hopeless romantic, so that helped too.
There were questions about casting, particularly Hugh Grant, who Stephen seemed to slam ever-so-slightly (maybe he was thinking about how Jon Stewart thought he was such a disastrous guest on The Daily Show?) But he did say for one film the part was up between Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, who were both ridiculously handsome, but Hugh Grant was just a touch better for the part. He really believes that the reason that his films did feature so many good-looking matinee idols (like Grant and Colin Firth) was not due to name draw but truly that they could “recite the lines” the best. He said that in many instances 70 actors would audition for a part, but his go-to group of regularly used actors were for him the best casting choices.
He also said that editing is supremely important in film making. During the first test screening of Bridget Jones Diary, the film only got two laughs. When they re-edited it, moving around scenes in a very dramatic way, the hilarious film we see today was the result of the significant amount of re-editing work. I found that quite surprising.
Throughout the talk Curtis’ philanthropic initiatives were discussed. He spoke about how trying to go an expedition to Ethiopia with a pretty girl piqued his interest in the continent and in helping global poverty. As a result, he co-founded Comic Relief and Red Nose Day. The latter “holiday” was formed because the government insisted he to create a special day of the year to establish his fund drive for Comic Relief. He decided upon Red Nose Day.
Given the success of Comic Relief and Red Nose Day, it’s safe to say that Curtis is not only a highly successful and celebrated film maker, but a philanthropist of equal renown as well. These qualities definitely fit in with the vision of the Montclair Film Festival – an entertainer who makes you laugh but also cares about improving the world. That sounds like another person we know – Stephen Colbert.
Sharilyn attended Sunday’s talk with Rob Reiner, and here is her impression of the event below.
Conversation with Rob Reiner
Stephen makes the mistake of drinking a swig of water right before a hilarious “Spinal Tap” reference. | Image Courtesy StephenSmile64
“Oversold” wasn’t a shocking word to hear from the volunteer greeting patrons at Sunday’s long sold-out conversation with director Rob Reiner. Ticket buyers were no dummies: the event was an absolute joy.
Reiner might be the most congenial director in Hollywood, speaking about his experiences with an easiness and modesty that you don’t expect from a living legend. Even when fielding audience questions, he happily retold the story about his mother delivering the “I’ll have what she’s having” line in When Harry Met Sally as though he hadn’t recited it a hundred times before.
The two gelled instantly, and it was no wonder:
“I was raised on improvisation,” Reiner said, as a wide grin spread across Stephen’s face.
Reiner started out doing improv comedy in Los Angeles, with a troupe that developed their scripted sketch shows using the same methods Stephen later employed with Second City. Reiner then joined the famed troupe The Committee, which also counts improv guru Del Close among its alumni (Close would become one of Stephen’s instructors in Chicago).
Reiner graciously deferred to Stephen’s comedy experience several times. Stephen talked about how important it is for his writers to have performing experience so they understand what it feels like to bomb; and how to sense when joke is only going to be good on the page, or if it also has “mouth feel” and will succeed in front of an audience.
Reiner was a writer on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and talked about the censorship issues around what was a groundbreaking political satire at the time. Stephen recalled Tommy Smothers smacking him in the back of the head at the Emmys a decade ago – hard – to get his attention and tell him “I liked the speech you did for the President.”
Stephen remembered his parents having to go out one night to an event, but sat in their bedroom unable to tear themselves away from All in the Family. He recalled their reaction being, “what the hell is this television show… we know these people.”
And perhaps the highlight: Reiner told the “shit sandwich” joke from Spinal Tap, and Stephen made the mistake of taking a swig of water right before the punchline. Cue the napkins.
“I knew what the end of that sentence was,” Stephen laughed, “and now water is coming out of my nose.”
The Montclair Film Festival needs your help! Make a donation today to help give MFF a permanent home; plans include to make the building a year-round film education center. Click here for more details.