Boxoffice-September.1997

—
Sneak Preview
LIKE A "HURRICANE"
Indie Filmmaker Morgan J. Freeman
Experiences a Rising Studio Barometer
by Alex Albanese
FOUR FRIENDS: (from left) Morgan J. Freeman with "Hurricane Streets'"
Brendan Sexton III, producer Gill Holland and exec producer L IVI. Kit Carson.
Relaxing amid the battered
couches and caffeine vibe
of an Avenue A hangout on
the summer's first hot day in New
York, Morgan J. Freeman has
reached a heady point in his life.
Freeman (no relation to the actor)
is a young independent filmmaker
whose fu^t feature, "Hurricane,"
won three prizes at Sundance, including
a best director nod, and
was acquired soon after by MGM
for its United Artists banner. Retitled
"Hurricane Streets," the
drama is set to bow mid-October.
Growing up in Long Beach,
Calif., Freeman and friends
"messed around" with video cameras
for a ninth-grade assignment
on Homer's "The Odyssey." The
result, Freeman says, was "a
cheesy video with everybody in
togas basically just reading lines,
but we thought we were making a
movie." That led to "episodes" of
"Miami Vice" with neighborhood
car chases and Pillsbury flour
stunt-doubling as cocaine. "But it
never dawned on us that people
did this professionally. I never
thought about being a filmmaker."
During Freeman's days al the
University of Califomia, Santa
Baibara, the then-biology major
stumbled across a film studies
c(xirse. It proved an epiphany. "I
realized there were more possibilities
than ju,st doctor/lawyer/engineer,"
he says. Freeman graduated
in 1 992 with a film degree. A year
in Paris to study film criticism
followed,
during which he also
did low-budget film work and directed
two shorts. Returning to
America, he entered New York
University's graduate program.
"At UCSB, Gregg Araki had
made two $5,000 features a few
years before, which inspired some
other people to make films with
$15,000 budgets while I was
there. Later, when I came to New
York, people talked about how
difficult it was to make a
movie, that you needed a million
dollars and this and
that—$1.3 miUion seemed to
be the number. Well, because
of my experiences at UCSB,
I knew it didn't have to be that
expensive if you have people
that really want to do it. That
ultra-low budget knowledge
was incredibly important.
Otherwise, I would have believed
them, and 'Hurricane'
never would have happened."
Two crucial elements in the
film's making hearken back to his
year abroad. The work Freeman
did for Paris' Why Not Productions
led to a New York film internship,
and that in turn led to
pre-production and second assistant
director work on a low-budget
feature called "Middle Child."
Befriending several actors on the
shoot, Freeman cast them in a
short. He then began work on a
second short script, tailored for
Brendan Sexton III, the actor he'd
enjoyed working with most.
While that script was growing
into the feature-length draft of
"Hurricane," "Middle Child's"
tide was changed to "Welcome to
the Dollhouse."
When it won the
top prize at the '96
Sundance fest and
was acquired by
Sony Classics,
Sexton became a
commodity. Then
the fates smiled
again:
After finishing
his script.
Freeman ran into a
friend from Paris
who invited him
to a script reading. There, Freeman
met producer Gill Holland,
who had already seen "Welcome
to the Dollhouse" in Toronto.
"I passed my script off to him,
and he liked it. He knew some
people who had financing who
also loved Brendan's work in
'Dollhouse.' 'Hurricane' was
never sent out to anybody to be
made. I gave the script to only one
person, and he got it financed. It
was truly something that came
fixDm my head, straight onto the
page, that actually rolled into getting
financing and was made without
ever being altered to get it
made. Cast control, script control,
crew control were all ours."
Money, always tight during the
30-day shoot, ebbed and flowed.
"Lo/s of independent
films made this year
aren V going to come
out. You always think
it's going to happen
for you, but what
but
if it doesn't? ijj
Freeman's 40-person crew
stayed loyal. "It was never, 'Pay
me or I'm gone,'" he says, "even
if the checks weren't on time. The
crew always worked and acted as
if they were paying their bills and
had money in their ptxkets from
this, and there's no way anybody
could have. I know, because I did
it on 'Dollhouse.' I knew how
tough it was. It's nice now," he
adds, "to see ["Hurricane Streets"]
pay off for many of them. People
are getting jobs. The awards
helped everybody."
Those Sundance honors included
best cinematography and a
shared audience award. Freeman
describes the fest
as "the worst and
then the best experience
of my
life. I was terrified.
The first
screening
was
like drug withdrawal—all
I did
was shake, sweat
and freak out. But
there was a really
good reaction
from the audience."
No distributor deal was
struck until after the closing
awards night, however, and during
the fest's run he realized "lots
of independent films made this
year aren't going to come out. You
always think it's going to happen
for you, but what if it doesn't?"
Those worries evaporated with
the awards. MGM had expressed
interest during the fest, even
though studio executives down in
L.A. had been shown, due to
screening-room error, the first 10
minutes of the 1977 Dino De
Laurentiis "Hurricane." Yet an
agreement was soon reached
and with it went Freeman's muchvalued
control. "It's suddenly
different—now it's a business
deal. The film's final cut, marketing,
image, even my image to
a certain extent, are all in their
hands now. I just need to step
back a bit, trust, and hope people
respond well."
Freeman is fully aware that
moviegoer reaction to "Hurricane
Su-eets" will factor into
how much control he has on
his next project. But, right
now, he's most eager to "walk
down to tJic Angelika past a
'Hurricane' poster, buy a
ticket, and see the film with a
paying audience." Soon,
Freeman will be doing just thai.
"Hurricane Streets. " Starring
Brendan Sexton III. Directed and
written hy Morgan J. Freeman.
Produced hy Gait Niederhoffer,
Gill Holland attd Morgan J. Freeman.
A United Artists release.
Drama. Opens Oct. 10.