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Wisconsin Public Radio

Making Movies

Program 07-03-18-A

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These days, everybody wants to make a movie. And with today's technology, just about anyone can. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the rise of the indie film. Chris Gore talks about "My Big Fat Independent Movie." And we'll meet a former waitress who spent her life-savings to make a movie about the food service industry. Also, screenwriter David Mamet on what the Hollywood biz, and the blockbuster he'll never make.

SEGMENT 1:

David Mamet has written Tony Award winning plays like "Glengary Glen Ross" and Oscar nominated screenplays, including "Wag the Dog" and "The Verdict." He's just written a book about his experiences in Hollywood, called "Bambi Versus Godzilla." Mamet talks with Steve Paulson and says the secret to writing a successful screenplay is to focus on what happens next. That's all the audience cares about.

SEGMENT 2:

Chris Gore is the so-called "pit bull of movie journalism," and the creator of "Film Threat" magazine. He's also the screenwriter and producer of "My Big Fat Independent Movie." He discusses with TTBOOK's Doug Gordon (the self-styled "labradoodle of movie journalism") whether of not DVD commentary tracks are as good as film school. Also, Patti DiVita is a waitress in Elkorn, Wisconsin, and what's wrong with that? She tells Jim Fleming how she was inspired to make a movie about people in the food service industry, even though she knew nothing about how to make a movie and had no backers. But "Did I Say Thousand Island?" is finished and had its premiere in Denver, Colorado.

SEGMENT 3:

Writer Scott Topper provides a commentary on the power of films on the minds of film-goers. Also, Mira Nair is an Oscar nominated, India- born film-maker who divides her time between America and the sub-continent. She is best known for her films "Mississippi Masala" and "Monsoon Wedding." Her new film is called "The Namesake" and she tells Jim Fleming it's based on a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 07-03-18-A.

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Books:

David Mamet, Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business (Pantheon)
Patti DiVita, Did I Say Thousand Island? (DVD)

Websites:

• Mira Nair website
  www.mirabaifilms.com
• "Did I Say Thousand Island?" website
  http://didisaythousandisland.com/
• Chris Gore website
  http://www.chrisgore.com

Music:

• -Hooray for Hollywood Cha-Cha/ Don Swan & His Orchestra/ from Ultra Lounge vol. 2: Mambo Fever/ Capitol
• -The Mora Sister/ Boot/ from Virvla/ Northside

• -The Khaleegi Stomp/ Trans-Global Underground/ from Impossible Broadcasting/ Artemis Records
  

Distribution dates: week of 03/18/2007 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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