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Madelyn Hammond: So Colleen, Alice was a 40-day shoot and the rest of it,
there was a lot of CGI and green-screen. So was that cool for you to work in such a
nontraditional way and do what you do, but in a different and a more up-to-date format?
Colleen Atwood: Yes, it was different. I think--Who told you it was a 40 day shoot?
Madelyn Hammond: Was it not 40 day? Colleen Atwood: I think it was a bit more
than that, but--- Madelyn Hammond: 40 sounds good. I mean, 40
is fast. Colleen Atwood: It was a long 40 days, yeah.
But yeah. Madelyn Hammond: It was like 40 days and 40
nights Colleen Atwood: There was so much to do on
Alice. We did Alice in three chunks. We did the opening of the film, which is set
in real time in the 1860s in the UK. So we designed the costumes for that and made
them, manufactured them, and then we moved to the U.S. with a small hiatus and
started shooting the green screen. While we were prepping the other, while we
were shooting the other, we were manufacturing costumes for the green
screen portion of the film. And as it went along we were making more and
more costumes, because Tim was like, you know, "I like that person to be
real." So we kept going and going and creating costumes
and then they shot the green screen part, which is probably the 40-day shoot.
And then a couple months went by into post and then they decided
they wanted elements of the film like the courts and all these other things to
be real and not be animated. So I ended up making costumes for the Red
Queen's Court and the White Queen's Court, and we shot that in chunks.
It was almost like doing three mini movies together.
So it was kind of a good way to work because you really had time to focus on
each thing and kind of get detailed time in. Which was nice, because usually the train's
leaving the station and you're on it and you just have to blast through
it. So it was a different style, but I enjoyed
it. Madelyn Hammond: But in addition to all that,
didn't you have to also do a lot of outfits for Alice.
Because her wardrobe shrunk and widened almost as much as mine, I am sure.
So didn't you have to do like more costumes per character?
Colleen Atwood: We did. You know, we made a decision early on that
that we didn't want Alice to just be a girl running through the whole movie in
the same-- Madelyn Hammond: Blue dress.
Colleen Atwood: Blue dress, because we've all seen Alice in that light before,
and we wanted to make her more of a real girl to people and more of
a modern kind of character. And so the way the device that worked for
that, which was really in the screenplay, and I think Linda's idea was that
as Alice shrunk and grew that her clothes did not.
So she got out of her blue dress quickly and we went into her underwear, which
like was a long slip that became a long dress. And then she grew out of that and popped off
and then she was naked. And the Queen made her a dress, her court
made her a dress. It went with that court and then Johnny made
her a dress in the teapot, when she had to get really, really tiny.
And we had these scale charts that we worked off of, with the scale of each
character and height that we played with. So there was a lot of work in figuring out
the scale of her stripes in each element and how it worked on a human body
to make it look like she was bigger or smaller to help sell that.
We also had that same thing with the Red Queen's collar, because her head got so
huge that when your head gets big like that, it covers up your neck.
So I cheated the top of the dress to here, and we kind of faked that out and
then we made a collar that help make the neck narrower.
Because when they enlarge the head, the neck look like the torso of a man.
So, there are all those little kind of weird tweaky things that you do as you go along.
Madelyn Hammond: God, you don't even think about it, wow!
Colleen Atwood: Yeah, you don't even think about it.
But all that stuff was happening as we were discovering, all of us together
really, what we were doing here, because nobody really had quite done it
that way before. Madelyn Hammond: It's amazing and if you haven't
seen it, watch it again with that in mind.
It will probably be like seeing it all over again.
So Darla, I have got to ask you. You hold the Guinness Book of World Records
for the highest per film box office average for your four films to date,
which is Toy Story 3, A Bug's Life, Cars, and Monsters, Inc.
That's crazy! (Applause)
So I am curious, and I am sure that some members of the audience are as well.
Like who thought of that? Because it couldn't have been you.
It must have been your fantastic publicist. And what do you get? A certificate, an award,
a note? Madelyn Hammond: How did this happen? Did
you check the book? Darla K. Anderson: No.
The Guinness World Book comes up with this stuff.
Madelyn Hammond: They do? Darla K. Anderson: Yeah. Madelyn Hammond:
Wow! Darla K. Anderson: Yeah, which I couldn't,
you know-- Madelyn Hammond: Did you have the phony phone
call when they are like--? Darla K. Anderson: No, they don't even call
you. But my godson was in the airport. He had gotten
it for Christmas. So he was looking through the book and somebody
said, "Oh, Darla might be in there." And I was like, "But why would I be in there?"
But, you know, it's for kids. Kids love these things. So he opened up.
And it made it look like, actually the way it was worded, it made it
look like I had $1 billion. It really did. So my godson, he was like, he calls me, "You
have $1 billion!" So excited. Madelyn Hammond: Almost, not quite.
Darla K. Anderson: It's more exciting for the kids than anything.
Madelyn Hammond: Okay, so let's-- we are going to open it up in just a few
minutes to the audience, but I got to ask you, Alix, what's next for you?
What have you got in development? What's happening?
Alix Madigan: There are a few things floating around which hopefully one of them we'll take
up this summer. But there is a movie that we're definitely
doing which we'll shoot in Montreal at the end of the year.
And the original-- It's been a movie that we've had for 10 years-- a project that we
have for 10 years in development. Madelyn Hammond: What's it about?
Alix Madigan: It's called Adeline. It's about a woman who has a freak accident
at the age of 30 and stops aging and then sees the rest of the century enfold in
front of her and ends up falling in love in the process and has to give up her
immortality. And we had a director and an actress, they
fell off, and now we are negotiating with another director and an actress.
So hopefully that will happen and we'll go and propose.
Darla K. Anderson: Well, can I ask a question? Madelyn Hammond: Yeah!
Darla K. Anderson: When Winter's Bone has gotten so much press, does that help your
endeavors? Alix Madigan: You know, it's so funny, Darla.
I mean-- I think it's-- No. (Laughter)
Darla K. Anderson: You think it would! Madelyn Hammond: You totally would think it
would. That's not right. Alix Madigan: Well, the thing is that I think
when you do a movie-- and I do believe this is right.
Essentially is, I think that the artist find the movie, the talent, you know.
Obviously, Jennifer Lawrence and fortunately John Hawkes too.
And the director, Debra Granik was so amazing, her cowriter Anne Rossellini.
They're the ones who people approach for jobs. Like, with a producer, you're kind of like,
all right, what do I do next? I mean it's like you're kind of reinventing
the wheel again and trying to your next project off the ground.
More people I think, I mean, people take you a little bit more seriously,
I guess, if you come off it. And they maybe call you back the same day as opposed
to three days later. But it's not-- Madelyn Hammond: It's not like people are
showing up with checkbooks saying here is all the money.
Alix Madigan: No, not yet. Madelyn Hammond: Not yet.
Maybe Darla can share some of her billion. Darla K. Anderson: Yeah, I am writing a check,
right now. Madelyn Hammond: But it's getting better for--
it's changing for producers. And so maybe in a few years it will be a little
bit easier. Because now this year, for the first year,
the Producers Guild has what they call a Producers Mark.
So when you start to see films, you'll see next to Darla's name and Alix's
name and Lesley's name a little Producers Guild Of America, just like you do with cinematographers.
Because what they are trying to do I think is distinguish between people
that say they are producers and others that are really there on the set
every day slugging it out. Alix Madigan: It's such a-- I am so glad that
you brought that up because when you have a movie that's for Oscar consideration?
I mean I know Darla had to go through the same thing, and it's really amazing
that Darla is the sole producer that's on any film that's nominated this year.
But you do have to go through this very extensive process, which is part of the
truth in credits campaign that the PGA puts together.
And essentially you fill out these couple of sheets of paper and you know it's
for development, prep, production, post. And you say that you were really involved,
somewhat involved or not involved at all, and then you write essays and address every
single section. Every single segment of the project, and then
they actually vet it. The PGA vets it as well and they call a key
personnel, the line producer, the DP, the writer, etcetera, to really see if all
that you're saying that you did is right. And it's an arduous process, but I still believe
in it, because the producer credit is a much-- It's an amorphous one and
it's been abused over the years. So I think to have this strenuous process,
which has been brought about by the awards process,
I think is a really necessary one and I am really glad that
the PGA is doing that. I think it's great.
Madelyn Hammond: It is. It's good. And I think it will clear up a lot of the
confusion about it, because it's not just writing the check.
It's actually doing, appearing on set, which I know you did, Darla.
It was a long shoot, right? Darla K. Anderson: Yeah, 4 years.
Madelyn Hammond: 4 years, that's crazy! Well, and then you're not even including all
the crazy time in between, so it was actually more.
Darla K. Anderson: Yeah, true. Madelyn Hammond: Think about that.
So, I wanted to ask.. Oh Gloria, so you are working on -- what are you doing now?
You just left Digital Domain and you are working-- Gloria Borders: Yeah, I just finished working
on Tron for the last 2 years, as well as several other pictures that we're
doing at Digital Domain. And I was asked by my boss two times ago,
Joe Roth, if I would help produce Snow White and the Huntsman, so I think, well,
I said yes. And I think Darla was saying something earlier
that really resonated. There is something about being either, whether
it's part of a-- Darla, did you say or Colleen about being part of a theater production
doing a movie? That makes me very excited, so I thought this
might be a great opportunity. So I jumped in working on the Snow White and
the Huntsman, which, I don't know if you guys have been reading it, it's getting
a little bit of press and I am working with Joe Roth again.
Madelyn Hammond: Who is great. Gloria Borders: He is great.
Madelyn Hammond: Is it going to be 3D? Gloria Borders: It's being discussed. We'll
see. Madelyn Hammond: Sounds good. So that's cool.
And by the way, how excited were you being from sound when Tron got a sound...?
Gloria Borders: Well I loved it because of course they did it at Skywalker.
So I was really, really excited, and there is a fantastic woman that was
the supervising sound editor and so I am really happy for her.
Madelyn Hammond: That's so great. I love that. And then what about you? Ae you working on
another documentary? Lesley, what do you guys got going on?
Lesley Chilcott: I am in developmental, although documentaries don't really go in development.
I just like saying that. I have a documentary to direct, not because
I am switching careers permanently, but I am obsessed with this particular topic.
So I think that's going to be coming up in another month or two.
Madelyn Hammond: Well, can you tell us what it is or it's a secret?
Lesley Chilcott: I can't get Davis to produce for me though so I don't what I'm going to
do. Madelyn Hammond: Darn!
Can you tell us the topic or--? Lesley Chilcott: It's on privacy issues, online
behavioral tracking, careless social networking.
13 year olds that have ruined their chances of getting in college just because of
something they did absent-mindedly. Madelyn Hammond: Right.
Oh, then that gets into the whole online thing with about bullying and just
putting yourself out there. And I mean it just snowballs. That'll be great.
Lesley Chilcott: Yeah. I mean there is a lot of shocking-- I won't go into it, but like
women that go to battered women's shelters.
They take and destroy their phones, because there's commercially available for free GPS
tracking systems. So that almost everyone that they were trying
to get away with was showing up at the shelters and there was a lot of -- And
you can do it on the Internet. So there are a lot of safety issues and a
lot of things that we are just now beginning to think about and see.
Madelyn Hammond: Oh, it's crazy. I sometime help people with their resumes
and I always tell women, take your address off because you're posting this thing
online all over the place. You really want them to come to apartment
208? I mean, it's crazy.
We don't think about it, you know. Also, I want to ask you too Lesley.
You know, we are talking about giving back and the whole thing with
DonorsChoose, but you co-founded Unscrew America, which focuses on environmental issues.
Tell how you got involved with that and a little bit with what that organization is.
Lesley Chilcott: Sure. After An Inconvenient Truth I was looking-- We call it the lightbulb
moment. After you go and see a documentary that asks
something of you, what can you do that's really simple?
And, it's funny, because with Waiting for Superman, if it hadn't been for DonorsChoose..
You don't just one day wake up the next morning and say "I am teaching now" or
whatever it is that you wanted to do. So I founded Unscrew America and partnered
with a lot of LED companies, because CFLs I think are a temporary technology, and
there is also a lot of things that go into making CFLs like mercury that aren't
good for the environment. Madelyn Hammond: What's that? Lesley Chilcott:
What's what? Madelyn Hammond: What's CFL?
Lesley Chilcott: Compact Florescent Lightbulbs. Madelyn Hammond: Oh, okay. Did everybody know
that? Lesley Chilcott: So, the idea was unscrew
your lightbulbs, this is kind of an older, old concept now.
I feel outdated. Madelyn Hammond: I don't like those new lightbulbs.
Lesley Chilcott: You screw in something more energy efficient.
So next month we're actually, we partnered with a California Lighting
and Technology Center. We actually rated a bunch of bulbs and we're
putting that up on the site, because even though everyone, including me,
wants to change your lightbulbs, there's still aren't that many great solutions
offered. So I went through and did what I call the
beginning good person rating. So it was like ooh, warm light!
Great, awesome, good to read by! And then the California Lighting and Technology
Center did a technical evaluation. And so those will be side-by-side and then
maybe it will help people choose lightbulbs a little bit more.
Madelyn Hammond: Okay. So what's the bottom line?
So the old ones-- the new ones have the mercury? Lesley Chilcott: Well, the CFLs usually have
5 micrograms of mercury. Madelyn Hammond: Mercury, right.
Lesley Chilcott: And even so they say it's generally better-- that's the swirly ones
generally and sometimes they have cases on the outside.
Even so generally, it's better for the environment because they use less energy,
but you have to remember to dispose off them properly.
And all these groups weren't teaching you that, right?
So, the newer bulbs are LED technology. LED technology is the old alarm clocks with
the red lights. Now they figured out how to have all these
different color temperatures that are warmer and really nice light.
Only the bulbs are kind of expensive right now.
So within the next three years those prices are going to come down and everyone
is going to have a lot more options. Madelyn Hammond: Good to know.
See the stuff that you learn here? All right!