I was in a bit of a Roger Corman mood today after talking with some friends that have shot projects at the old Corman Studio/Lumberyard in Venice.
There was a time when I was younger I really wanted to work for Roger. I had read everything I could about him. I had interviewed people that worked for him on the radio and for magazines. Everyone seemed to have a fairly cool opinion of him, but when I came out to try and get a gig there, it never happened for me. There was always some assistant keeping me away from being hired. I tried and tried, but I guess I missed the glory years.
I had friends that had directed for Corman and had great stories about the "Talk" you'd get about directing the film. They all said great things about the talk. They said things like, how in 20 minutes they realized they had wasted Dad's money on film school, because Corman gave them everything they needed in that 20 minute talk.
Asking them to tell me what the talk was, they all refused. It was like some secret society oath. I still don't know what was said in these "Talks."
This is Roger Corman from the French series "Cinema Cinemas" with sound out of sync. Enjoy!
Part 1
Part 2
The Trip!
The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent!
The Raven!
The Fall of the House of Usher!
Teenage Caveman!
And just for fun, Roger Corman's "Fantastic Four"
Here's an interview/podcast I did with Beverly Gray who worked at Corman's New World Pictures, where she edited scripts, wrote publicity material, cast voice actors, supervised a looping session, played bit parts, and tried her hand at production. She collaborated with such soon-to-be-famous directors as Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, and Paul Bartel, and was deeply involved with the writing of the cult classic, "Death Race 2000."
She spent three years as an assistant professor of English at USC, where she enjoyed teaching "Fiction into Film" courses. Following the birth of her children, she turned to journalism, covering theatre and the entertainment industry for Performing Arts Magazine, Theatre Crafts, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
Then Roger Corman beckoned once again. Beverly spent the next eight years at Concorde-New Horizons Pictures as Corman's story editor and development executive, making some 170 low-budget features. Along the way, she found herself with six screenwriting credits including, "Beyond the Call of Duty" "Immortal Sins" Sandra Bullock's "Fire on the Amazon" and "Hellfire."
Beverly's first book, "Roger Corman: An Unauthorized Biography of the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking," was hailed by critics from coast to coast. She also wrote, "Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon and Beyond."
Here is that Hollywood Buzz podcast!
<< Home