The term "auteur" gets thrown around a lot in filmdom, but few truly fit the definition of the term like Edward Burns. After working a day job at Entertainment Tonight in the early 1990s, Edward Burns scraped together $25,000 for his first feature, The Brothers Mcmullen, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. This launched his career as a filmmaker, and a burgeoning acting career (in other directors' movies) followed with roles in Saving Private Ryan, 15 Minutes, Life or Something Like It, and the criminally unnoticed con man drama Confidence. Despite his success as an actor, Edward Burns is still a filmmaker at heart, with nine films under his belt as a director. He decided to go back to his barebones budget roots with his latest drama, Nice Guy Johnny, which was released on DVD last week.
I recently had the chance to speak with the talented multi-hyphenate Edward Burns over the phone. Here's what he had to say.
I saw on the bonus features that you wanted to go back to The Brothers Mcmullen model with this movie. Was this a concept that has been kicking around for awhile, or is it fairly new?
Edward Burns: It was pretty new. What happened was, I made this film called Purple Violets, and it didn't quite perform the way I think we all had hoped. Then I spent another two years trying to get another film of mine made, and couldn't get that financed. My agent came to me and said, 'Maybe it's time to think about putting yourself up for open director assignments.' I said, 'Guys, for 15 years, I've said no to that. I'm really not interested.' They said, 'Well, you should think about the kind of paycheck we could potentially get you.' So I said, why not take a look at some of these scripts. I read a bunch of scripts and I find one that I could probably lend my voice to, or take some ownership of. I tell the agents, they're very excited, but I said, 'Give me the weekend to re-read it and think it through, and we'll set up the meeting on Monday and I'll come out to L.A.' That weekend of me re-reading the script is Johnny's weekend, basically. I call on Monday and said, 'Guys, this isn't for me.' The decision was that I love what I do. I like writing more than anything. I like my smaller, dialogue-driven character stories. On Monday, after I passed, that's kind of when I started to think about making a film about a guy who's being asked to make a similar decision. To give up your dream to take a more financially responsible career path. As I started to shape the screenplay, and think about who this guy would be, I didn't want it to be a guy who's my age, going through some form of a mid-life crisis. I wanted it to be a guy like I was, when I was trying to get The Brothers Mcmullen made, and I had a ton of naysayers in my life, but I just had to go and do this thing. I thought it should be a young guy, who is willing to gamble because his dream means that much to him, and that's why I made it a young guy. In thinking about The Brothers Mcmullen when writing the script, when I finished, my producer and I sat down and I said, 'Wait a minute. Why should we go out and try to raise a couple million dollars to make this movie?' Mcmullen is my most successful film, financially and critically. Why not go and do another Mcmullen? When I was 24 and had no connections, didn't know how to make a movie, and had no money, we still were able to find 25 grand and shoot it in 12 days. We said, let's do the same thing here. I took $25,000 and put it in the bank. I said, 'This is the budget. We've got to get this thing done for this amount of money.' And that's what we ended up doing.
That's awesome. I also saw the audition reel of Matt (Bush) and Kerry (Bishé). Can you talk about when they came along in the casting process? Were they fairly early, or fairly late?
Edward Burns: The script was pretty much done and I have a great casting director in New York, going back to She's the One. Her name is Maribeth Fox. I gave her a Mcmullen assignment. We wanted to work with these young kids, because we didn't have any money to pay them. On Mcmullen, we were all so enthusiastic and excited and couldn't believe that we were actually making a movie. I wanted to recapture that kind of enthusiasm, given the production. We were only going to shoot in 12 days, we were all going to live together in a house in the Hamptons. We're going to try and shoot all day long, and wake them up at sunrise if the light is right. The great thing about living in New York is there is an abundance of talented actors who are just dying for an opportunity. We auditioned a bunch of kids and, the minute we saw Matt, we kind of knew he was going to be our Johnny. The character is described as being nice to a fault, and we needed a kid who, the minute you saw him, you would have nothing but empathy for him. Finding Brooke was a little more difficult. There were a couple of girls we liked, but when we saw Kerry, we thought she was fantastic, but she's about a head taller than Matt. So, we had to see what the chemistry was going to be like, so we brought them in to read together. I think you can tell from that audition, you can tell that early on. They didn't rehearse together or anything. There was something there that was pretty special. It was very exciting.
You always write a role for yourself in your films, and I think Uncle Terry is one of your best characters and performances. I was wondering if you could talk about the process of writing for yourself. Do you have a role picked out beforehand, or does it just come to you while you're writing?
Edward Burns: You know, it's a little bit of both. Sometimes, like the thing I'm writing now, I'm definitely writing a part for myself, trying to do something a little different for myself as an actor. In Nice Guy Johnny, he's this guy who is nice to a fault, he wants to make everyone happy. He is going to end up hurting himself because he wants to please everyone else. I thought it would be interesting to play the mentor character who is the complete antithesis of that. He's a character who is so selfish, and seems to be giving him terrible, terrible advice throughout the course of the story, but, only in the end, you see that terrible advice, is just what this kid needed. Once I knew I wanted this character to be that kind of guy, I didn't know exactly how I would color him. I know a couple of guys who are Uncle Terry-esque, and I pulled a bunch of their classic lines. Once I started to play with that, it really came to life.
You also said on the bonus features that, once you started to act alongside Matt, he really forced you to step up with your own acting. Can you talk about that dynamic on screen with Matt?
Edward Burns: What can happen to a lot of actors, and it happened to me, is I think I kind of fell out of love with it, for a little while. I had done a couple of studio films, and I just started to, I don't know, get a little jaded. I got lucky because finding these kids who were going to show up and give it their all, the unexpected surprise I got was, on that first day, Matt showed up and he came to play. He destroyed me. When I looked at the scene in the editing room, I said, 'We have to reshoot this.' He is not holding back. It wasn't a big, dramatic scene, but there is a level of intensity that he brought, which showed I had gotten a little lazy. Working with him, I really started to fall in love with acting again. That was exciting.
Can you talk about embracing the whole budget situation? Were there aspects of the movie where you wished you did have a bigger budget?
Edward Burns: I look at it like this. There are two lists of compromises where I have had to choose from. On one side, when I make my films at this budget level, which I am so happy at now, I don't know if I'll ever go back. The compromises I have to make are like I don't have a Steadicam, or I don't have a crane, or I might have to write a scene out of a location because I can't afford all those extras. I might not afford to relocate either, so I might have to consolidate three scenes into one locations. I'm not going to be able to work with movie stars. I'll have to work with unknowns. I'm OK with all of that. The other list of compromises, whether someone gives you $1 million or $100 million, is that person that cuts the check, expects to be a part of the creative process and expects to fully collaborate with you. After making nine movies, prior to Johnny, I've had my title changed, I've had music changed, I've had endings changed, I've had to cast certain people. I look at that list of compromises, and I'm just unwilling to make those. When I look at the two lists of compromises I have to make, I'm taking the compromises I have to make for a lower budget. I don't really look back and say, 'You know, it would have been so much cooler if we had done this.'
You have a few really interesting projects coming up with Man on a Ledge and 40, your TV pilot with (Entourage creator) Doug Ellin. Is there anything you can say about your characters in those projects?
Edward Burns: Yeah. 40 is going to be incredible. The pilot script, it's like the best stuff in Entourage. It's funny, it's real, and it's four real guys. It's a great part. I never wanted to do television. Doug sat me down and tried to convince me. He said, 'Read the script. If you read the script, you might reconsider.' I started reading it and, by page 10, I was in. We shoot the pilot in October, here in New York, and I'm really excited about it. Man on a Ledge, we shot that last winter and it comes out in January. I play a hostage negotiator. Sam Worthington is the guy on the ledge who's going to jump, I'm there to negotiate but he doesn't want to talk to me. He wants to speak to Elizabeth Banks' character, so I have to step aside and deal with Elizabeth, while she's dealing with him. It's sort of a thriller in the Inside Man vein.
Is there anything you can say about the project you're currently writing right now? About the story or who you will play in that?
Edward Burns: Yeah. It has to do with retired cops. I'll just leave it at that.
How far along in the process are you?
Edward Burns: I have my outline pretty well structured, and I'm almost done with the first act.
Finally, what would you like to say to anyone who's curious about Nice Guy Johnny or who didn't get to see it in theaters, about why they should pick up the DVD?
Edward Burns: First of all, I think it's very funny, but more so than that, it's actually about something. If you are a dreamer, and you've been told to give those dreams up, this movie might be just the thing you need.
Excellent. I really enjoyed the film, and it was a pleasure talking to you.
Edward Burns: Hey man, thank you very much. Take care, Brian.
You can watch Edward Burns as the hilarious Uncle Terry in his latest directorial effort, Nice Guy Johnny, which you can currently find on DVD shelves everywhere.
Nice Guy Johnny was released October 26th, 2010 and stars Max Baker, Kerry Bishé, Edward Burns, Matt Bush, Brian Delate, Marsha Dietlein, Harper Dill, Michele Harris. The film is directed by Edward Burns.
Making the morning rounds.
• Nothing to see here. A forthcoming memoir by Auburn coach Gene Chizik is set to shock the publishing world by claiming that Auburn never had any doubts about the eligibility of star quarterback Cam Newton during last year's run to the BCS championship, despite a months-long avalanche of incriminating reports and speculation that the übermensch QB or his family was bought and paid for. "We knew we had done nothing wrong during the recruiting process," Chizik writes on one of the two pages in the 282-page book dedicated to the scandal that defined the season. "If we'd had any level of concern regarding Cameron's eligibility, we would not have put him on the field and risked forfeiting games for playing an ineligible player." In an equally shocking turn, Chizik also blames "some individuals in the media" for blowing the story out of proportion. [Associated Press]
• This could get ugly. The indefinite suspension levied Wednesday against Oregon cornerback/return man Cliff Harris may extend beyond the season opener against LSU, according to sports information director Dave Williford, who emphasized that "indefinite" really means "indefinite": "[The suspension] could be the LSU game only," Williford said. "It could be longer, it could be much longer."
Coach Chip Kelly said in a release announcing Harris' suspension that "Cliff's future is clearly in Cliff's hands," and he won't rejoin the team until he's "able to conform to the same standards all of us must comply with." Specifically, that means being cleared of NCAA violations for driving a car rented by a university employee and of legal obligations that come with thousands of dollars in unpaid fines. [The Oregonian]
• That thing they said: Us too. Unwilling to be left behind by his counterparts in the Big Ten and SEC, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott became the latest power broker to hop aboard the "cost of attendance" bandwagon Wednesday by pledging to advocate for an increase in scholarship money available to student-athletes. "Our concern is kids from underprivileged backgrounds who literally have trouble covering costs, have a meal, have a little spending money," said Scott, who broached the topic with Pac-12 athletic directors at their recent conference meetings. "That's a concern."
One athletic director who's open to the idea: Arizona State's Lisa Love, who called Scott's initiative "a healthy conversation." One athletic director who's not: Arizona's Greg Byrne, who notes in the same article that, considering likely Title IX concerns, funneling more money to players could be crippling in an environment where almost no one is breaking even as it is. [Denver Post, Phoenix Business Journal, Associated Press]
• Mack-ximum exposure. Most coaches hate doing one weekly television show during the season, but Mack Brown is on board for two weekly shows this fall —and will be featured prominently in a third. The initial slate of offering for the forthcoming Longhorn Network, released Wednesday by corporate partner/megolith ESPN, includes Mack in a regular recap show ("Rewind with Mack Brown") on Monday nights and a regular preview show ("Game Plan with Mack Brown") on Thursdays, as well as a Wednesday night "documentary" series ("Texas All Access") that will focus exclusively on football during the season. The network will also crib directly from ESPN's playbook with Texas-only versions of "SportsCenter" ("Longhorn Extra") and "College GameDay" ("Texas GameDay"). [ESPN Media Zone, Longhorn Network]
• Opening arguments. Orlando jurors heard opening arguments Wednesday at a civil trial for a wrongful death suit brought against Central Florida by the family of former UCF running back Ereck Plancher, who collapsed and died during a workout in March 2008. The family claims that a) The university never informed Plancher that he had tested positive for sickle cell trait, a genetic condition that's resulted in the death of multiple college football players in the last decade, b) Coaches pushed him too hard despite their knowledge of his condition, and c) Coaches and trainers didn't follow proper emergency procedures when Plancher began showing signs of distress. The university contends Plancher died during a moderate workout of a congenital heart defect it couldn't have known about. [Associated Press]
• Just leave the statue at the door. Continuing to tap the apparently endless supply of raw acting talent it has on hand in Heritage Hall, USC launched the latest entry in its series of in-house ticket spots this week with the greatest pitchman of them all:
Between da Coach O and Lane Kiffin, Trojan recruits will be hearing their names shouted from the podium of the Oscars in no time. [USCTrojans.com]
Quickly… A judge orders North Carolina to publicly release phone records and parking tickets related to the ongoing investigation into UNC football. … Auburn lands its second commitment from a top 100 recruit in as many days in Tyrone, Ga., receiver Jaquay Williams. … Florida continues its recruiting roll with a solid four-star linebacker from Louisiana, Lorenzo Phillips. … LSU is exploring the idea of possibly considering an expansion of Tiger Stadium. … Contrary to some reports, Tate Forcier says he hasn't had any contact with Hawaii. … Former Colorado tight end Patrick Devenny may or may not have a shot with Hayden Panettiere. … And here's a groundbreaking piece of commerce as Colorado State-themed art. Andy Warhol would be proud.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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Peter Risdon Says:
May 16, 2011 at 2:40 pm | Reply
The paragraph you quoted from ends with this sentence:
“According to the best-sited stations, the diurnal temperature range in the lower 48 states has no century-scale trend.”
That was a surprise given the tenor of this post: “… maybe this is the end to questions as to whether surface temperature increases actually exist.”
Did you mean that we can now say the answer to that is that surface temperature increases do not exist? Or that, pace Keenan in the WSJ, the data do not contain statistically significant trends?
andyrussell Says:
May 16, 2011 at 2:58 pm | Reply
I don’t think diurnal temperature range is very important. Do you?
What’s more, the “century-scale” bit covers some interesting detail. Before Fall et al., it seems that the only work on diurnal temperature range showed a negative trend from the mid-century to 1980s-ish. What Fall et al. found was that this has increased again since the 1980s. So there’s no “century-scale trend”.
But that tells you very little about mean surface temperature trends.
Mark Says:
May 17, 2011 at 10:45 pm
I have heard it claimed that the reduction in diurnal temperature range over the past few decades provides evidence that GHG increases are responsible for the warming. In that sense, some people think diurnal temperature range is important.
Incidentally, I don’t think Fall et al. were the first to find that DTR has increased since the 1980s. I read a paper that said much the same thing a few years ago.
Sorry for the lack of references to back up these statements. I’m a little too busy at the moment to chase them up.
andyrussell Says:
May 18, 2011 at 8:43 am
Ok, so I’m probably not giving DTR as much significance as it deserves.
My point is that I don’t really care about DTR. I don’t think I know anyone who has a particular interest in DTR. If this paper had been published by anyone else I wouldn’t have looked at it. It’s not very interesting. It’s just another paper on climate observations that fits in with the “consensus view of climate change” or however you want to put it. That’s useful, but not to me or most people.
If, however, the paper had shown what Watts has been saying it would show for quite a while now (i.e. that the postitive temperature trend in the surface station record in the US was an artefact of poor station siting) then that would have been very interesting. To me and to many other people.
But it didn’t.
Ben Says:
May 16, 2011 at 4:49 pm | Reply
So Peter… If the diurnal high and the diurnal low both rise by 1°C, you think this means there has been no warming? After-all, the diurnal range hasn’t changed! Others might draw a different conclusion.
Peter Risdon Says:
May 17, 2011 at 8:26 am | Reply
I understand diurnal range has significance, and the relationship between day and night time temperature ranges is important, especially with regard to the period 1950 to 1980 when the effect of man-made global warming, it has been argued, was masked by a cooling but revealed by the changes in the relationship between these ranges.
I further understand that this argument is based on the idea that human pollution caused this daytime cooling, that it affected the range of day time temperatures as well as the difference between night time temperatures which continued to show warming, and daytime ones that didn’t. This makes day time temperature range significant: if this is right it would be expected to show a variation that correlates with human activity.
But this isn’t my field; I’m just reading what I can in an attempt to understand as much as possible about an important issue and, for me at least, that means reading Watts and reading this blog. Just searching out stuff you’re already disposed to accept isn’t good enough. My comment was prompted by what struck me as a somewhat partial quotation and exasperation: I’m with Feynman when he said you should point out the problems with a theory, not just the things that support it.
[It's not really a "partial quotation" is it? That sentence you are interested in is stuck on the end of the abstract as a new paragraph and isn't really related to the 2 sentences I quote and which are related to the subject of this post. I'm not really interested in DTR and I doubt Watts was either. - AR]
At least Watts invites people with different views to post on his blog and has been at the forefront of attempts to cross the ideological divide, not least with Judith Curry.
Ben, of course you’re right. Andy, a century is an arbitrary scale, of course.
I’d still be interested in your take on statistical significance.
JMurphy Says:
May 17, 2011 at 12:05 pm | Reply
In what way has Watts atempted to cross “the ideological divide” ?
Ben Says:
May 17, 2011 at 3:16 pm | Reply
Peter, I encourage a critical (i.e. thoughtful) reading of Anthony’s blog but my god do you really think he’s “at the forefront of attempts to cross the ideological divide”? Anthony has done more to harden denialist thought than anyone, with the possible exception Marc Morano.
The “different views” he solicits are unthreatening fig-leaves.
andyrussell Says:
May 17, 2011 at 3:24 pm | Reply
I’ve got no problem with most of what Keenan says, although he’s not the first/only person to be saying these things. There’s a JoC paper from 2010 and it was one of the useful points to come out of the UEA email enquiries (i.e. working more with stats people). Not sure where the funding was supposed to come from for these new people though!
I suppose the bigger problem comes down to climate science covering so much stuff – you can’t just look at problems from a stats/dynamics/modelling/chemistry/radiation/whatever perspective for too long before a) not getting very far or b) needing to doing something you’ve not done before.
omnologos Says:
May 19, 2011 at 7:21 am | Reply
Am surprised nobody claimed it was irrelevant as the US only covers 2% of the globe…
andyrussell Says:
May 19, 2011 at 7:43 am | Reply
Maybe that’ll be Watts’ next move: if you can’t find anything in the US, let’s give Europe a go.
I can’t imagine there’d be much enthusiasm left for such a project, though.