Wednesday, July 12th, 2006

THE REAL DEAL-Filmmaker Interview

Last year I read the series of columns that Steve Lopez wrote for the LA Times detailing the plight of the homeless in downtown’s notorious skid row.  Those articles and the images they conjured up have haunted me ever since.  Then I received an e-mail and subsequent DVD package on my doorstep called THE REAL DEAL about a man who has dedicated his life to helping the homeless of Los Angeles rize above their circumstances.  This documentary really moved me and I am grateful to both the filmmakers and their publicist for bringing it to my attention.  Below is a portion of the press kit synopsis followed by my interview with producer Tom Jones.



For the past twenty years, director, actor, activist and writer John Malpede has been dedicated to building community on Skid Row, Los Angeles through the work of the Los Angeles Poverty Department, the first performance group in the nation made up principally of homeless people.  Malpede founded L.A.P.D. with the mission to create performance work that connects lived experience to the social forces that shape the lives and communities of people living in poverty.


THE REAL DEAL was directed by Tom Jones and written by Jones and John Malpede.  The film premiered at the 2006 Beverly Hills Film Festival where producer and director Tom Jones was honored as “Producer of the Year” by the Festival jury.


Jones uses a one man performance by Malpede as the basis for the film.  Intertwined throughout Malpede’s multi-dimensional recounting of L.A.P.D.’s story are conversations with past L.A.P.D. participants, clips from 20 years of performances and in depth interviews with homeless activists, government officials and longtime supporters of the theater group, including acclaimed theater director Peter Sellars. By incorporating these elements with scenes from Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles and footage from the unprecedented 2005 hand count of the homeless in Los Angeles County, Jones creates a street level view of the dark, disturbing and frightening world of homelessness that underscores Malpede’s revelation of the “the real deal” at the conclusion of his show.


The estimated homeless population of Los Angeles alone is 91,000, and the problem continues to escalate worldwide. Through L.A.P.D. and THE REAL DEAL, Malpede and Jones strive to focus attention on this on going crises and give the homeless a voice.



How did you get started as a filmmaker?


I backed into doing this...I received a degree in International Economics from Georgetown School of Foreign Service...the career paths from that particular school are attorney, State Department or CIA...but I really wanted to get involved in the explosion of television and film around the globe...wanting to put “good content” down this huge pipeline which is being built.  I got a job as a motorcycle courier on a news show and one thing led to another.  I went on to produce that show...had a production company in England...did some time in advertising...got in the DGA doing pieces for Entertainment Tonight and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous...found myself in LA running the West Coast of USA Today on TV...had some shows with NBC, including a feature length documentary on Amelia Earhart...started Halo to do the media for Ross Perot’s presidential campaigns...and here I am...so I have always been writing, shooting and cutting something.



What films inspired you and shaped your work?


On the scripted side...I love epics.  Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now, Out of Africa...I would like to find a way to incorporate some of those great dramatic elements into documentaries...applying rich production technique to the staid documentary world is going to make for an exciting new category of films.  We tried some of this with THE REAL DEAL...using the stage play as a spine for the film...it was also a way to use the clips generated over 20 years (with various degrees of production quality).



What led you to making this film?


I was assigned the LAPD story by an unlikely program...The Home Show, which was run by an old time TV guy named Woody Frazier.  Home was a DGA show, so I would do 3 or 4 pieces a year there to earn my union health insurance minimum.  There was a segment producer there named Katerina Campbell who had a great eye for stories and could sell them through to Woody...she would dish these stories off to me to go direct.  I was so impressed by John and the group that I thought it deserved more than 4 minutes or so on ABC daytime...so we set about to do something longer.  That was about 3 lifetimes ago...but we have been picking at this while doing tons of other things (3 presidential campaigns, series TV, countless hours of corporate films, etc.) I think John’s work speaks for itself and his story deserves to be heard.  There are not many people who walk the walk...he is one of them.  2 decades on skid row LA...buy choice...and he has turned the LAPD into a modest phenomenon...they are in Amsterdam this month working with a group there...imagine herding up a dozen or so homeless people from downtown LA and fling them to Amsterdam.  Incredible.  THE REAL DEAL is going to play there later in the month...I am excited and honored to be going over for the premiere.



What challenges/obstacles did you face while making the film?


Money, time and tough subject matter.  No one really wants to know about homelessness...we all just wish it would go away...that these people would get it together and find someplace to live.  But it is important to look at the issue...and more importunately to look at each one of these people as an individual...because it is an indicator of where we are as a people.  Homelessness is not an issue in itself...I think it is the by-product of other issues...child abuse, spousal abuse, drug abuse, lack of public funding, etc.  To tackle the homeless problem, we will need to address all those other issues...hard stuff...and not exactly light movie fare...making funding and distribution tough to impossible.  But it makes it sweeter getting it done.



What sort of distribution are you seeking out?


I would like to find the widest possible audience for the piece...I think John has something to tell people and I am anxious for them to hear it.  I don’t care about the financial aspect of things...don’t care if it is in theaters or on TV or on people’s cell phones...so long as we get a chance to stir up some dialogue about this topic...I am happy.



What documentary filmmakers do you admire?  (I noticed your music sounded a little like the Phillip Glass music in THE THIN BLUE LINE.)


Love Errol Morris...Ken Burns, of course...the unsung heroes who used to do the NBC White Paper series...but my favorite guy of the moment is THE REAL DEAL’s shooter/editor, Patrick Creadon, who will take theaters by storm this summer with Wordplay.  Creado nailed it with this piece on the NY Times Crossword puzzle...if you haven’t seen it...you should...it is great.



What project or projects are you working on next?


We are working on a piece on John Parsons...the man who invented solid fuel rocketry.  Rocket scientist by day, black magic occultist by night...fascinating.  We are also in pre-pro on a piece on Bill Lerach, corporate America’s most hated man.  He is the lead counsel in the Enron, Worldcom, ATT and BellSouth cases...by far America’s leading plaintiff attorney.



How do you plan to circulate this film so that it can really reach out to the people who NEED to see it and help get involved?


Great question...we have had some discussions with an organization called Ironweed...but I would love to find a unique distribution plan...something which raises some money for the great organizations which are working with the homeless around the country. I have hopes that we will be able to stitch something together with PBS...but we will see.  We are going to do this thing in Holland, and hopefully the Impact Festival in NYC...and then go from there.



For more information about the Los Angeles Poverty Department, click here.

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