Boxoffice-September.1997

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— 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.
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Page 25 and 26: mStereo System for about $12,000?
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Page 55 and 56: 1 Innovation Is Our NIsslon t V •
Page 57 and 58: ighten Up! Projection System Analyz
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Nonresponding Companies Assembled b
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BOXOFFICE Independent Feature Chart
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HOME RELEASE CHART SEPTEMBER 1997 H
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Boxoffice-September.1997

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