Ed Burns
You may know Ed Burns from the critically acclaimed Saving Private Ryan but he is also an accomplished writer, actor, producer and director of five independent features. A native New Yorker, Mr. Burns began his career with the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner The Brothers McMullen (1995), and has gone on to write, produce, direct, and star in She’s the One, No Looking Back, Sidewalks of New York, and the soon-to-be released Ash Wednesday.
In the true spirit of indie filmmaking, Mr. Burns agreed to do a cameo in 16 year old director Joshua Safdie’s short film, Lethargy which just premiered at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival on February 7th. I sat down to talk with him about the state of independent films, his view on studio movies, and why he chose to help a young, unknown director.
IFQ: How did you become involved with Joshua Safdie’s short film, Lethargy?
EB: I know Josh’s parents and I was over at their apartment and Josh and I hit it off. We were talking about his plans to go to film school and he was incredibly enthusiastic about films and wanted to get into filmmaking. He showed me the film he’d shot so far and I was blown away by the short and completely jealous of the technology that kids in high school have these days. So I ended up letting him help out on Ash Wednesday. It’s not the norm to have a high school kid working on your film, but I was really impressed by his enthusiasm. When we got into post-production, I let him come into the editing room and watch us edit.
IFQ: How was it working with a first-time, 18-year-old director?
EB: He has a great eye and really knows what he wants. He’s very comfortable with the actors and communicating his vision. I’ve worked with directors who are shooting their 10th film who still don’t know what they want or how to communicate it. We shot my scene in the great indie style – it took 45 minutes of filming in a local deli.
IFQ: Your newest film, Sidewalks of New York, deals with the relationships between several different characters through a series of documentary-style interviews. What made you use this documentary-style approach?
EB: I got the idea when I was on the set of Saving Private Ryan. As I watched Spielburg shoot our battle scenes with a hand held camera, I got the idea to use that type of style for my next film. I wanted to do a film that explored the misunderstandings and ugly things that happen between men and women, instead of doing another ‘romantic’ type movie.
IFQ: You seem to use a lot of the same actors in your films, is that because you like working with these particular actors?
EB: Basically, I’m in a unique position where I can give my friends work. Let’s face it, anything in life is more fun when you’re doing it with your friends, and working with your friends is best of all. We shot Sidewalks in 17 days, and I had to say look, ‘you wont get any money, there’s no trailer, and you’ll have to wear your won clothes, but it’s only 17 days.’ You can get someone like Stanley Tucci because his scenes only took 5 days and then he could go on to the next thing.
IFQ: How was your budget for Sidewalks of New York?
EB: Just under 1 million.
IFQ: Is it true that when you were a production assistant on Entertainment Tonight, that you gave Robert Redford a copy of The Brothers McMullan and he loved it and made sure you got into Sundance?
EB: There’s some truth to that. I was a PA on Entertainment Tonight, and I did give the tape to Redford, but after that, nothing really happened. I had gone through the Sundance Institute, but they didn’t give me money to finish films. I submitted The Brothers McMullan to every festival, agent, producer, director EVERYWHERE, and it was rejected by everyone.
IFQ: So basically, every festival in the world EXCEPT for Sundance rejected you>
EB: Yeah. I actually saved all the rejection letters I received, and then when I went to Sundance people were coming up to me, handing me there business cards, saying ‘I want to represent you,’ ‘I want to distribute you,’ etc. I got back to New York and pulled all the business cards I received and was able to weed out about 50% of the group.
IFQ: I heard a story that you had to stop production several times on The Brothers McMullan due to the lack of funds – so often that the actors had different hair cuts and sometimes hair colors by the time you started shooting again. How long did it finally take to finish?
EB: We ended up shooting about 12-14 days over an 8-month period. We kept running out of money, so we would stop shooting, I’d raise a couple hundred bucks, buy more film, round up the actors, and start shooting again. We all had several different haircuts during that time, so that does show up in the film. The thing was, we didn’t know the rules of the business, so we had no idea we were breaking them.
IFQ: Do you have any advice to indie filmmakers who are trying to get through the festival process?
EB: You gotta remember, this business is a marathon, not the 100-yard dash. You have to be willing to be in it for the long haul. If you’re passionate about your work and want to evoke an emotional reaction from an audience, then you have to put the work in. If you’re in it for the money, fame, and glory, then you shouldn’t be doing this.
IFQ: After writing, directing, producing, and starring in your own films, what was it like to work on a huge studio film like Saving Private Ryan? Is it strange for you to merely act in a film without being involved in the creative process?
EB: Well, it is a little strange at first, but it’s pretty nice to just show up, have a cup of coffee, read the paper and wait to shoot a scene. In that sense, it feels more like a job that you just show up, do your work, and leave. Once in a while I look around and think ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have this kind of budget,’ but other times, when it takes a week to shoot one scene it’s like, ‘I cannot believe this is taking so long! I would’ve had this done in a day.’ The other way is all-consuming. When you’ve written the script, and are directing and producing, it’s not as if you finish shooting, go home and relax. You’re constantly thinking of the next day’s schedule and shooting – you can’t really turn it off. When you’re just acting in the film, it seems like a lot of people come in, do their thing, and go home – just like normal people.
IFQ: What was it like to work with someone like Steven Spielburg?
EB: Just watching Spielburg was a great learning experience. The most important lesson I learned on that shoot was to give the actors freedom and not to over-direct them. Spielburg doesn’t say a lot to the actors for the first 3 takes or so – he just lets everyone do the scene and waits for everyone to get warmed up and comfortable. By doing this, we were usually able to get the scene done the way he wanted by the third take without him constantly giving us additional direction between takes. There were times when we didn’t get it quite the way he wanted after three takes and he would then jump in and tell us how he wanted it. I adopted that style on Sidewalks of New York and Ash Wednesday. When you have good actors, they can come in and do their thing without a lot of direction.
IFQ: What can you tell me about your new film, Ash Wednesday? I hear it’s a bit of a different style for you.
EB: Yeah, it’s more of a period film, basically dealing a fictional ‘80’s family in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a story about Catholicism, brotherhood, and family – more of a drama than my past films.
IFQ: Do you currently have other projects in development?
EB: I’ve finished a few scripts and plan to take on a few acting jobs in the near future, but nothing’s ready to go after Ash Wednesday.
IFQ: When can we expect to see it in theaters?
EB: We’re just getting ready to show it to distributors, so it will probably be 6-12 months before it’s released.
IFQ: Do you expect to eventually take a step back from acting to concentrate more on writing, producing, and directing?
EB: For now, I’ll keep starring in my films, but sometime soon I’ll take a step back and concentrate more on the writing and directing. Someday I’ll probably be ready to just stay behind the camera.
IFQ: Any last advice to aspiring indie filmmakers?
EB: I’d tell them, don’t try to compete with Hollywood. Your car chase will never look as good as their car chase – it will just look cheesy. Embrace your lack of resources and go for the indie look, and just concentrate on the story.