To the Best of Our Knowledge

PROMO       3/18/07      "Making Movies"
*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. 


PROGRAM RUNDOWN:   "Making Movies"

0:01 - 15:17        SEGMENT 1: (15:18
            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 One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

15:18 - 15:47  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

15:48 - 33:18       SEGMENT 2: (17:31)
            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 Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

33:19 - 33:48       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

33:49 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (19:10)
            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.
                    
            Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
3-18-A.