1. Your film Poro Forever has become a Finalist in our
competition. How was the film inspired?
My wife is from
Poro, a little town with a huge heart but in a very remote area of
the Philippines. Even though Poro has its own language,
Porohanan, it had no library at all, and Jerasol and I decided to
open a free library that would bring a world of learning to the kids,
especially, but also to everyone in Poro.
Since I was between
projects, I decided to film the opening of the library. But when I
got there I discovered a town, so warm, so loving, fun and
self-sufficient, that I decided to make a documentary of "everything
Poro" and let the world see what a hidden gem it is.
We threw away the
script that Larry and I had written, (Lawrence Benedict, is my
co-producer) which had focused on the opening of the library, and as
I heard Larry say from L.A. after we jettisoned the script,
"If it's there,
shoot it!"
Larry has spent much
of his life in Hollywood, on both sides of the camera, and would be
our editor on Poro Forever.
People can be so
locked into their scripts, they miss what's really there. In terms of
a documentary, Larry's philosophy is "Don't shoot what you
went to shoot, shoot what's there!"
2. Tell us about your background and when did you decide to become
a filmmaker?
I was in my first
film in 1968, co-incidentally in the Philippines. I fell in love
with filmmaking. I was able to appear in a handful of films in the
70's and 80's but discovered I was better behind the camera.
When I retired from
a life centered on horses, I took up making short films and the
passion just grew from there. Poro Forever is my 4th live action film
and we have a fifth, an anime, in preproduction.
3. Films
that inspired you to become a filmmaker?
Cowboy films! "The
Cowboys," "North by Northwest" "Lonely are the
Brave," "Shane'"
4. Who is
your biggest influence?
John Ford.
Larry says he was
most influence by films by Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini and
David Lean but the movies that helped him learn about a life of film
making were "The Stuntman" 1980, and "Day for
Night" by François Truffaut. A more recent joy for Larry was
the French film Molière, 2006, where, if you watch closely, every
plot point turns on a point of acting in some way.
5. Do you have a favorite genre to work in?
Cowboy and Western.
Two of my short films were in that genre. Why is it my
favorite? That is what I am, a card-carrying cowboy.
6. What's your
all-time favorite movie and why?
I can't say that I
have only one. Anything with John Wayne or Bruce Willis.
Larry chimes
in, "The Fifth Element" with Bruce Willis, but beyond
that, Barry Lyndon, I've been dying to say this: "Barry
Lyndon" is a movie with giant sets framing tiny foibles,
creating a reality at once poingnant and pointless."
7. If you could
work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?
Sadly, most of them
have passed on, but among the living, I would love to work with
Spielberg, or Tarantino.
Larry agrees and
adds, "if I could work with any actor it would be Ben
Kingsley. When asked for his secret by the L.A.Times,
Kingsley replied, I make sure I can hit my marks and then I just
let go!"
8. The one
person who has truly believed in you throughout your career.
My wife is very
understanding. She realizes the process takes long and sometimes
tedious hours. Like being on set before sunrise and not getting home
until well after sunset. Oh and the phone calls and e-mails. Lots of
phone calls and e-mails!
Larry's answer? "My
mother, Leila Katherine Benedict who willingly listened to a little
kid's Jimmy Stewart imitations ad-infinitum. Next to her, my
father, Walter Franklin Benedict who, after the shock of discovering
there was an actor in the family, became my greatest fan.
9. What was the
most important lesson you had to learn as a filmmaker?
Patience. Actors,
crew, food services and bystanders are as unique as fingerprints and
each personality must receive its own specialized attention.
Larry adds, never
say "Yes-but... always say, Yes-and..."
10. What keeps you motivated?
The fact that I am
helping others in their career. If I can get an actor more work after
one of my films because he/she did an exceptional job, I feel like a
million bucks.
Larry adds, "Yep."
11. How has your
style evolved?
I have a very
basic style that has stayed fairly consistent. I don't take 8 hours
to film a 3-minute scene. Clint Eastwood taught me that, "on
time and under budget is what gets you your next film." Oh,
artistic style? That the horse is going out of the chute and you have
to stay on it. That's true of films and also life.
One I like, says
Larry, is production time expands to fill the time allotted.
Artistically, I always pushed the limits but until quite recently, I
never realized how crazy human beings could be. That knowledge will
be present in my future work. The actor is logical, his/her subjects
are not, necessarily! The right side of the brain does not know what
the left side is doing!
12. On set, the
most important thing is...
Know your
lines, be aware others are not perfect, be flexible.
Larry would add?
Know your lines, hit your marks and learn to snap awake after ten
hours in a trailer.
13. The
project(s) you're most proud of...
Then one I am
working on.
14. The most
challenging project you worked on. And why?
The Poro Forever
Documentary. Keeping mental track of hundreds of takes and
making sure "the truth" was all we shot.
I agree, Gary, and
with Poro Forever, from an editing point of view, flow, pace, mood
and truth had to be substituted for a script. I always create for
myself, a personal theme to keep in my head for a project I'm
editing, like some editors do with music. For Poro Forever, that
theme was "smiles."
Fortunately, with
Larry, I have the best Editor in the business and he really put a
fine polish, a nice sheen to my film.
Then you've got the
technical aspect that's always present. The Island is subject to
blackouts and a jenny (generator) simply did not exist. There is
nothing worse that being halfway through a scene and the lights go
out.
I know I harp on
this, Gary, but one can deal with the fact an actor didn't show up,
but if you're out of batts, (movie jargon for batteries), your shoot
is over for the day.
Here's one. We were
in Cebu filming a scene and I blew out all the lights because I had
the wrong electrical adaptor! Movies are a mental exercise
because they are not just art, they are also highly technical. I
must say, the People of the Philippines are some of the nicest and
most gracious in the world and they were very understanding.
15. What are your short term and long term career goals?
Short term -
more movies, long term - even more movies, until I drop.
16. Your
next projects?
My team and I
are in pre-production on a number of things. Most people in the
industry know what those meetings are like. Happy pandemonium! There
are a lot of irons in the fire right now, and there's no question
that a beauty will emerge. Web series, shorts, major production?
Time will tell! A final thought, Larry?
Always have more
than one project in the pipeline. We are Menifee Productions,
"Movies from the Heart." That contains a little inside
irony because "Hollywood" passes on people who have
only a single project in mind, or even scripted. They sarcastically
call it His or her "movie from the heart" and that
presages, for them, all sorts of newbie problems. A producer or an
agent in a pitch meeting will almost always say "What else
you got?" Have a second idea, even if it's just a single
sentence.
"Gary is a best selling author of eighteen Oh! nineteen books (as of yesterday! And the director of our first two award winning films, Riding Through Life with Love by my Side and our new documentary, Poro Forever. He is a former Marine, a Vietnam Veteran, a Card Carrying Cowboy and a retired Veterinarian. Gary and his wife Jerasol gifted the new, free, Public Library (where there was none before) to the town of Poro, Camotes, Cebu, Philippines. The People of Poro and its new library are the subject of our current documentary, "Poro Forever."
Thank you for your great answers! I believe they inspire many of you to read this article!
If you want to continue following this exceptional artist, here are his social networks:
https://www.crimsoncloakpublishing.com/gary-winstead/