- Title: FJ-HRN-1485
- Summary: Toronto / Michael Clayton Press Conference: HRN-1485 Toronto / Michael Clayton Press Conference A01. HRN-1485 In: 00.00.01 Out: 00.00.59 B-Roll: Wide shot of stage introducing panel A02. HRN-1485 In: 00.00.58 Out: 00.02.06 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy When I think ideologically I think Democrat republican social democrat I mean its not a we were just talking about this its not just a blue state red state political issue its a nobodys really there isnt really a political constituency for poisoning your children I mean that sort of runs across it seems to me more of a moral film not an ideological film the issues to me in the film are moral the moral choices characters are making they are not a they are not ideological A03. HRN-1485 In: 00.02.20 Out: 00.02.56 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney Tony - I dont know if its a its very easy to be ghettoized in America to say that your making a political movie weve had political movies we havent had enough of them this just doesnt happen to be the case here its not the issue in this particular film it will be interesting to see how it is perceived if we get people try to box us in I dont know George then youd just start saying its a political film Tony exactly its a political film George and if they start laughing its a comedy A04. HRN-1485 In: 00.02.55 Out: 00.03.28 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney Tony The questions are different the questions have always been last week were very much about corporations and globalization and trying to put some sort of metaphoric a overview of the picture and I think those are legitimate questions I think Europe is the rest of the world is trying very hard to figure out what America is right now and who weve become so those are natural questions here I think here theres itll be more character oriented A05. HRN-1485 In: 00.03.41 Out: 00.06.32 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George you take it you start Tilda Coward, I dont think its a film thats neccisarily about laywers or about America as I speak as an Alien here I think it would be an insult to the film to say that it was I think its about human being perpetuated inhuman acts and I think its too sophisticated a film to suggest any answers but sophisticated enough to ask a very simple very um pressing question which is how is it inhuman acts and we know what these are we read about it hear about them see them being perpetuated every hour of every day um are perpetuated by love their wives and mothers and pat their dogs and um you know can laugh at jokes its a question and its a human question that could a excersise any one of us whether we were a chemical operation or a bakery or even in the film industry George Yeah I think thats right you can take these characters and this story and take it into a medical drama or you can put it in a government drama I mean this is about flawed individuals one of whom sort of comes to realization that hes looking for redemption which is always sort of interesting and decisions that are made based on your you know your own sort of self interest then at what point you keep moving that line of morality forward and I think that thats always interesting story telling you know weve done it for years these kind of films and the reason we do them is because we are we do suspect corporate America and with good reason there have been some you know between R.J. Reynolds and certain a couple of places they done some pretty shady things and it requires a whistle blower along the way and we do suspect sort of trick problems some times in law firms all of those things are very real so I think thats why it sort of resonated with me (talks) no this simply was a you got to remember this heres a funny thing about everything sort of a weight gets put on it because of what happens with the film the truth of the matter is it s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood youd think that would be easy but it isnt this is a great script and um you read the script and go this movie has got to be made what it talks about of course but its great characters its well crafted script and it should be made into a movie theyre not easy to get made you know in this day and age um first and foremost we wanted to get this film made to A06. HRN-1485 In: 00.06.47 Out: 00.07.56 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George the love scene with Tilda Tilda so sweet so sweet George it was so so good Tilda So tender Tony it will be on the DVD George the rehersals those shed knock on my trailer shed come in lets rehearse the love scene again Tilda for a price later George listen forst of all you love watching really good actors at their best you know I love watching um Tilda in a bathroom stall sort of falling apart always you know which I saw yesterday for a whole other reason no theres something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control really not in control and learning a lot about them I love watching tom in the scene in the alley because hes so simple and so good those are the scenes that touch me I love watching you know really to say something else people dont talk enough about Sidney Pollack is a really good actor a really good actor I love him just saying youre an asshole just like kills me really good cant say that on T.V. A07. HRN-1485 In: 00.08.01 Out: 00.02.26 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton A08. HRN-1485 In: 00.08.21 Out: 00.09.42 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George Listen I grew up in a family of my mother was a mayor my father ran for congress Ive always been involved politically and socially in issues those always weigh on another part of my life it didnt really inform much of what I was doing because this part is you know Tony wont want to really talk about things that he showed me before we started but theres you know there actual law document actual law inter office memos that say between other if you recall this its gonna cost you 300 million dollars or if you dont it will kill 300 people a year and a class action suit will cost 300 thousand and youll save this many peoples lives those were real documents that were past around and those documents to me were they informed me how I would play the part because you could justify it by saying you can lay off 30 thousand people and maybe a few people die from that so you justify it its all little incremental things but not you know thats a whole other side of my life that I think is important it didnt inform how I played the part A09. HRN-1485 In: 00.08.55 Out: 00.10.26 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony youll have to tell me George Yeah what happened (talks) Tilda your blowing it dude right now (talks) just wait have patience George I have patience Tilda its coming George ok, now I know to look out A10. HRN-1485 In: 00.10.44 Out: 00.11.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George ok Ill do thats good fun for me, um no I didnt tweak anything Tony wrote a great part you know Ive done just in the last 8 films Ive been paid for 2 so its not like you do the movies you do the rest of them you do for as little as possible because you want to get the movies made its not like your gonna get rich off the good German or good night and good luck Syriana you do them because you want to get the movies made um its ok I do alright you know Im doing fine but no it doesnt allow me any leeway with him trust me he may be a first time director but hes an adult and there was no me manipulating him I promise you that I tried A11. HRN-1485 In: 00.11.53 Out: 00.14.03 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony hes George Clooney hes the a you know George - 800 lb gorilla is that what your trying to say Tony hundred and yeah I mean he was the way he was the way the movie got made he was the principle partner in the film hes the reason the film is getting made I mean whos gonna argue with him theres no one to argue with him past that point um I mean if theres a fundamental conversation about how the film is going to go or something about how its going to be sold I mean hes gonna have to be the person that Im on the same page with so he was the security blanket for this film all the way through and and protecting the script and protecting the and quite honestly stealing my nerves sometimes to you know to remind me to remind me how cool and important what we were doing was and then finally being here right now and selling the film you know your not all here if George isnt here hes protecting me now I mean your seeing it right in front of you so and always George and also I think its important to point out and you guys know this sometimes it gets lost in the translation executive producer of the film is not producing the film those two produce the film they do the work they get the money they put the money together they actually day in and day out produce the film which is why if the film wins an Oscar the producer gets an Oscar the executive producers job is to look out for you know to help knock your way through road blocks so all my job was to do was whatever their vision was the film makers vision was to make sure that it gets realized whatever way possible thats not very difficult when you have very smart people thats their they did that not me (talks) ? well not all executive producers are created equally and having George Clooney makes the producers job so much easier ? George was an insurance policy for all of us in many ways George yes thats me an insurance policy term life A12. HRN-1485 In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.15.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony I dont like symbolism with a big S Im afraid like its its your catching someone at a lower than low point when he arrives at that field hes you know in your normal film the hero drives along and they see redemption then they pull over this is someone whos gone way way past that exit and if you live in an unnatural world if your world has become completely unnatural which his life had its sort of like walking into church isnt it you see something thats really natural I think he sort of a I think hes stunned to see something that reminds him that hes a biological being almost sometime I mean its a very powerful in that way how we got the horses to stay still is a secret that we will not be sharing other films will steal our very elaborate technique no horses were even no horses were amused during that shooting for the film George it involved a staple gun oh take it easy A13. HRN-1485 In: 00.15.39 Out: 00.15.56 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton about a girl George good good for you next question (talks) what the fucks wrong with you dude when have I ever answered a personal question in my life enjoy yourself have a nice day A14. HRN-1485 In: 00.16.12 Out: 00.16.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George the truth is Ive never had a designer Ive never people ask me what Im wearing on the carpet I say a suit you know its not my style you know it usually comes down to the brilliant wardrobe people and weve had brilliant wardrobe people along you know A15. HRN-1485 In: 00.16.40 Out: 00.18.23 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony you know the big difference if Ive been a writer sitting in a room for 20 years you know and every now and then they let me out and I go and watch and listen but its when youre a writer your alone your by yourself and you dont have anybody to help you out your really alone and the experience of making a film as director is completely the opposite all anybody wants to do is help you help you to death and and and if your smart enough to a get the right people helping you its a very very different experience I really enjoy getting out of my room lets put it that way George what was it like working with him Tilda Tony not a first time film maker hes been a film maker for many many years and hes just directed this film for the first time and it feels to me and having heard him speak about how he writes that his screen plays are just evidence of the film he sees in his head so hes been a director you know in the closet for a long time George it was also edited you know like good film makers Ive woreked the best Ive worked with Soderbergh the Coehn Brothers it was edited in his head and on paper in many ways before we started he had a lot of time to prep so it was a really you know it wasnt this indulgent thing either a first time director whos collecting a bunch of footage then bringing into an editing room and saying lets find a movie this is a movie that was so well prepared it was so well done from the very beginning it was like working with an old pro not old but you know A16. HRN-1485 In: 00.18.30 Out: 00.21.53 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony As prepared as I was and as much prep as we did for this film that was the one thing that was open that was an open question as we got filming people kept people started coming asking me everyday what are we gonna do what are we gonna do and I didnt have it we were in midtown and we were gonn shhot in New York we were filming at the Hilton and we were in that area and I thought really something Im gonna get an idea here something somewhere I knew George had to be alone I didnt know how alone I didnt know how to do it I wanted something clichd on the street we kept looking searching we tried a couple things we tried walking up the street a long lens shot it was really clich honest to god I went home in the middle of shooting we had two days off at one point on the DVD this will be an obscure but the piano teacher I watched the ending of the piano teacher and hes so incredibly odd and I thought we need something thats that powerful and alone the cabs outside and we tried it once we tried it once as almost as a sketch its a complicated shot to do as sketch we tried it went back and looked at it and go wo this could really work we have to do it a different way and then we had to it was a very complicated shot to do for no money in New York City its a really really good police cooperation that again we only wouldve had because of George because the cops want to hang out with George and drive around the thing and put the siren on and they know George is in the cab so theyll do it so we really caught a break and we did it a couple times it was really hard logistically do but that was a very late gamble George its also that thing that you like its sort of at the end of the like the graduate and after they finished and you have the ending and then you sit in the back of the bus and watch happily ever after and you watch sort of that ahh moment that I love seeing what happens after the climax Tony theres one more thing I want to say about it because its too cool not to mention were sitting were sitting in the police car at front and George is in the cab alone obviously behind us we had this very static image that were trying to watch to try and check the camera Robert Ellis and I and we did it kind times and things were messed up because of traffic was messed up or the car didnt move but on one Im watching George and its pretty fasinating to watch and were there reloading the camera in the back and I said what the hell are you doing like what are you doing and he said Im re-writing the movie in my head and I think if you watch the credits if you watch it that way its hes playing the whole movie in his face its great theres an amazing piece of acting (talks) you know what I had lunch with mike Nichols I got to meet Mike Nichols like three months after we finished shooting Soderburgh set up lunch so I go meet Mike Nichols so were sitting down were having lunch I go look so I completely ripped you off from the Graduate and he said I completely ripped off Cream Christina dont worry about it he said grand tradition he also mentioned a long good Friday you can go on and on theres a lot of films that have that so Im fully aware George if your gonna rip it off rip off the good yeah I send apology letters to directors every once in a while A17. HRN-1485 In: 00.22.06 Out: 00.22.58 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well there are 5 or 6 Lawyers in the world named Michael Clayton that Ive had a little Ive had letters from there not thrilled so Ill be facing some sort of charges um what do you think Tilda I am the person on this panal that has had the least to do with this world I had no idea that it existed they had to really convince me that it wasnt all a huge practical joke and a and we went to places like going to a zooalogical garden and look through glass doors and saw yeah yeah theres someone in a suit like that yeah they do exist apparently they dress like that apparently they talk like that but I dont so apparently as far as Im concerned Ive never been sued so I dont know these people George you havent been enjoy A18. HRN-1485 In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.23.23 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tilda um about my character um dress sense maybe um I prepared for the role honestly by reading the script and turning up it was that simple um I ate a lot of pies but a part from that I really did nothing um I met Tony Gilroy I wanted to hang with him I read his script and that was as simple as that A19. HRN-1485 In: 00.24.03 Out: 00.24.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George what makes me cry a lot the premier of Batman and Robin I cried that one got me there was a couple of moments in peacemaker that made me cry the beginning and the end A20. HRN-1485 In: 00.24.35 Out: 00.25.26 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George I didnt want to say that out loud (talks) no Id like to take credit for anything written but literally I said it I didnt veer from a single word you know when a scripts really well written it is actually very easy the hard part when its not well written you have to find ways to try and make it work where you have to make up things or fill in little bits and pieces I tried really this is written I had that experience a few times I had it with Scott Frank and I had it with Joel and Ethan on Oh Brother where its a script thats really well written so your trying to serve the material thats all Tony A21. HRN-1485 In: 00.25.37 Out: 00.26.35 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well were the same height Michael Clayton and I pretty much the same hair um I dont know your hoping your growing everytime but probably not unfortunately all it really does is give you something completely different to play which I hadnt had a chance to play before and I really liked the idea of it I dont know your trying to grow but you never know if you are or not you just sort of make an effort you know if you work the funniest thing is you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director but you can be really bad in films other wise its not necessarily actors you know the choices that actors make Ive seen actors improve on things but ultimately if you dont have a good script and you dont have a good director theres nothing you can do I mean thats the bottom line so that s what it requires A22. HRN-1485 In: 00.27.00 Out: 00.27.55 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton structure of film Tony the structure of the film as it exists was there from the very beginning ah it was always written that way you know the movies its a thriller but its not so much who did it its more a how and why they did it then it really gave a chance to appreciate that really finally in the film itself you move past the script in the film itself it really gave a chance to a to be over Michael Claytons shoulder and to go up that hill a second time and to really understand and appreciate that moment theres a big moment that happens twice and to really be there the second time the valueof doing it that way really became clear once we made the film it was much more it turned out to be much more important than I thought when I wrote it A23. HRN-1485 In: 00.28.42 Out: 00.31.13 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well it has for the most part there not you know theyve divested from doing much business there not everybody has its a tricky time right now because you know Chinas finally stepping up a bit we got some real movement for the first time in two years we got a chance this week Mockumoon went there and had a meeting with Basheer Basheers gonna meet with the pope which is a very interesting meeting ah but you know listen Id rather have people talking even if you dont like them or think theyre unsavory which I do Id rather have them sitting in a room talking France has been incredibly effective right now as they are also in the Iran issue Kushnire who Ive spoken with a lot are doing an amazing job so we have were in a position right now where were in actually for the first time have a piece treaty among not just the government of Cartoon but with all of the warring parties so theres a chance its not a very good one but its the first chance weve had in a long time ah and most of the countries involved have done a very good job in divesting in companies that invest in the Sudan so yes they have and theyve done a very good job (talks) yeah you get most of them the truth is its a very difficult thing you know we talked about this before you cant be topical in films because it takes you two years for everything to happen to write the script to shoot it and to get it out so usually its a little late by the time it comes out unfortunately its not late on this one because its lasted much longer than it should of but usually you find that preachy movies about anything can be too strident you find ways to try to deflect not go directly at it see unfortunately most of the scripts you get are direct very strident kind of piece and there not in entertainment and I find if your gonna do that then do a documentary if your gonna do thenmake it entertainment not of Darf 4 but do the constant Gardner the City of God that got really wonderful film find a way to make it entertaining and I dont mean happy entertaining but make it entertaining make a film or go make a documentary one of the two A24. HRN-1485 In: 00.31.27 Out: 00.33.06 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George they were thrilled Tony they really want to go on record a lot of guys want to come out and say thats what they do um you know this is not a job description that law firms really have theyre no ad in the economist that says you know were looking for a fixer and the character in the film wasnt hired for that job its something he evolved into when I went around theres a lot of law firms in New York that a lot of Attornys and as I was working up the character what I would do which I do for research for any kind of movie is go to somebody who really knows about it and say heres what Im thinking about doing heres my character heres what heres where they came from heres what they do the money they make do you believe in that character and as I went around the reposes were really encouraging we dont have anybody at our firm like that but we used to I dont have anybody but I know a guy at another firm who were supposed to call if we have a problem we have a guy but he doesnt look like George Clooney you know ah its not there are people who fix everything there are people the Hollywood Studio system has known for years Washington is full I mean any time you have money and problems put together someone is going to find a way to facilitate it easier than someone else and rich people are going to find a way to find a VIP room I mean theres always a VIP theres always a champagne room the guy even says theres always a way but no one came forward and said they wanted to be the poster representative for Michael Clayton George Consultant Tony yes exactly we have no official Michael Clayton Consultant A25. HRN-1485 In: 00.33.30 Out: 00.34.53 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tilda Pass, irrelevant to me really um Im its not a language I talk at all Im afraid I think you need to hear from this one George Im celebrity obsessed explain the question for me again because I was waiting for Tilda to answer (talks) but you know thats in fairness its not about sort of now because if you think about it if you think about movie stars which dont really exist anymore they sort of stopped with the advent of television really movie stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy Bogart they really basically played themselves in all those movies you know we knew them as that there wasnt no sort of like there was Lawrence Olivier who played a lot of characters but we didnt take to him as much as you took to Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable or Cary Grant or Gregory Peck they basically played that same thing so in a way were able to break out from that a little bit more the unfortunate thing I think is your demystified because they know more about your life because there are so many outlets and things like that but in a way your sort of set free because you know theres always gonna be theres an awful lot of celebrities out there you were talking about this before the sort of sucking up the celebrity air that arent really doing anything you know theres a bunch of them that havent done anything and are famous and you go well ok when that it sort of creates a sort of vacuum in a way Brad Pitt ok you know there are people its just that world where you go suddenly people are famous for not doing anything I used to think that was sort of hard to do I dont you know maybe you guys have examples of times years past but it seems to be more now but you know this is a cycle yeah Andy Warhols 15 min A26. HRN-1485 In: 00.36.10 Out: 00.37.28 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton inspired the story Tony it was an environment that I thought was interesting and hadnt seen before I thought there was I found this character and the moment that I landed on the character and sort of put it down you put like a seed in the ground and you in this environment and this character it was an embarrassment of riches it was actually hard to reign the story in it took a long time to write the script because there were so many ways to go there was so much which makes you know thats a really good feeling as a writer and I just you know I start pulling the string its the same way the only way that I know how to work you sort of start from something small you start you knit one row and you knit another row and you go wait a minute this is interesting over here you follow it and you make a big mess and then you have a big mess and you start to clean it up and its the same I dont really have any other process then to keep moving one step in front of the other finally in the end you hope that what you think and you hope that the world around you everything sort of has informed it but um thats I hoipe thats an answer A27. HRN-1485 In: 00.37.40 Out: 00.39.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Brad and George George you know I dont like him Ill tell you right off the bat hes very short I dont know if youve seen him very tiny hes a tiny little fella no never any competition with my friends never you know its a weird thing but you try not compete in art cause it always seems sort of strange I couldnt do the things he does ever you know so no no competition at all I feel some competition with matt Damon though cause Id like to kick his ass I actually dont feel its sort of an interesting thing about awards seasons which Ive gone through now once and when you finish it you sort of get this feeling of silt that you were talking about at the beginning of the movie where a patina where you find yourself Im helping the film and its a good thing but at some point your actually campaigning the idea that you should compare art and I always think thats a dangerous place to go because I remember watching David Stritherron nominated for Murrow and phyllip seymor hoffman for Capote and they were people were arguing whos given a better performance and you go have them switch roles you cant compare art so theres never any competition you hope there isnt any (talks) Ive never done it before ah I havnt ever been asked I dont know why they dont think Im smart A28. HRN-1485 In: 00.39.40 Out: 00.40.30 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Favorite Brad Pitt Movie George Johnny Suede no let me think in fairness Ill tell you what hes a really brave actor which is an interesting thing people often dont say that enough about him he does performances what he did in Snatch is just phenomenal he can do hes a really brave actor Im working with him right now on the Coen brothers movie and hes doing stuff in it because hes gonna steal the movie and Im gonn murder him for it but theres you can go through a list of them hes great in fight club and all those films but snatch is just a phenomenal performance should have been nominated for it
- Description:00:00:04 - A01. HRN-1485 B-Roll: Wide shot of stage introducing panel 00:00:58 - A02. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy When I think ideologically I think Democrat republican social democrat I mean its not a we were just talking about this its not just a blue state red state political issue its a nobodys really there isnt really a political constituency for poisoning your children I mean that sort of runs across it seems to me more of a moral film not an ideological film the issues to me in the film are moral the moral choices characters are making they are not a they are not ideological 00:02:20 - A03. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney Tony - I dont know if its a its very easy to be ghettoized in America to say that you're making a political movie weve had political movies we havent had enough of them this just doesnt happen to be the case here its not the issue in this particular film it will be interesting to see how it is perceived if we get people try to box us in I dont know George then youd just start saying its a political film Tony exactly its a political film George and if they start laughing its a comedy 00:02:55 - A04. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney Tony The questions are different the questions have always been last week were very much about corporations and globalization and trying to put some sort of metaphoric a overview of the picture and I think those are legitimate questions I think Europe is the rest of the world is trying very hard to figure out what America is right now and who weve become so those are natural questions here I think here theres itll be more character oriented 00:03:41 - A05. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George you take it you start Tilda Coward, I dont think its a film thats necessarily about laywers or about America as I speak as an Alien here I think it would be an insult to the film to say that it was I think its about human being perpetuated inhuman acts and I think its too sophisticated a film to suggest any answers but sophisticated enough to ask a very simple very um pressing question which is how is it inhuman acts and we know what these are we read about it hear about them see them being perpetuated every hour of every day um are perpetuated by love their wives and mothers and pat their dogs and um you know can laugh at jokes its a question and its a human question that could a exercise any one of us whether we were a chemical operation or a bakery or even in the film industry George Yeah I think thats right you can take these characters and this story and take it into a medical drama or you can put it in a government drama I mean this is about flawed individuals one of whom sort of comes to realization that hes looking for redemption which is always sort of interesting and decisions that are made based on your you know your own sort of self interest then at what point you keep moving that line of morality forward and I think that thats always interesting story telling you know weve done it for years these kind of films and the reason we do them is because we are we do suspect corporate America and with good reason there have been some you know between R.J. Reynolds and certain a couple of places they done some pretty shady things and it requires a whistle blower along the way and we do suspect sort of trick problems some times in law firms all of those things are very real so I think thats why it sort of resonated with me (talks) no this simply was a you got to remember this heres a funny thing about everything sort of a weight gets put on it because of what happens with the film the truth of the matter is it s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood youd think that would be easy but it isnt this is a great script and um you read the script and go this movie has got to be made what it talks about of course but its great characters its well crafted script and it should be made into a movie theyre not easy to get made you know in this day and age um first and foremost we wanted to get this film made to 00:06:47 - A06. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George the love scene with Tilda Tilda so sweet so sweet George it was so so good Tilda So tender Tony it will be on the DVD George the rehersals those shed knock on my trailer shed come in lets rehearse the love scene again Tilda for a price later George listen forst of all you love watching really good actors at their best you know I love watching um Tilda in a bathroom stall sort of falling apart always you know which I saw yesterday for a whole other reason no theres something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control really not in control and learning a lot about them I love watching Tom in the scene in the alley because hes so simple and so good those are the scenes that touch me I love watching you know really to say something else people dont talk enough about Sidney Pollack is a really good actor a really good actor I love him just saying youre an asshole just like kills me really good cant say that on T.V. 00:08:01 - A07. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton 00:08:21 - A08. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George Listen I grew up in a family of my mother was a mayor my father ran for congress Ive always been involved politically and socially in issues those always weigh on another part of my life it didnt really inform much of what I was doing because this part is you know Tony wont want to really talk about things that he showed me before we started but theres you know there actual law document actual law inter office memos that say between other if you recall this its gonna cost you 300 million dollars or if you dont it will kill 300 people a year and a class action suit will cost 300 thousand and youll save this many peoples lives those were real documents that were past around and those documents to me were they informed me how I would play the part because you could justify it by saying you can lay off 30 thousand people and maybe a few people die from that so you justify it its all little incremental things but not you know thats a whole other side of my life that I think is important it didnt inform how I played the part 00:08:55 - A09. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony youll have to tell me George Yeah what happened (talks) Tilda your blowing it dude right now (talks) just wait have patience George I have patience Tilda its coming George ok, now I know to look out 00:10:44 - A10. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George ok Ill do thats good fun for me, um no I didnt tweak anything Tony wrote a great part you know Ive done just in the last 8 films Ive been paid for 2 so its not like you do the movies you do the rest of them you do for as little as possible because you want to get the movies made its not like your gonna get rich off The Good German, or Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, you do them because you want to get the movies made um its ok I do alright you know Im doing fine but no it doesnt allow me any leeway with him trust me he may be a first time director but hes an adult and there was no me manipulating him I promise you that I tried 00:11:53 - A11. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony hes George Clooney hes the a you know George - 800 lb gorilla is that what your trying to say Tony hundred and yeah I mean he was the way he was the way the movie got made he was the principle partner in the film hes the reason the film is getting made I mean whos gonna argue with him theres no one to argue with him past that point um I mean if theres a fundamental conversation about how the film is going to go or something about how its going to be sold I mean hes gonna have to be the person that Im on the same page with so he was the security blanket for this film all the way through and and protecting the script and protecting the and quite honestly stealing my nerves sometimes to you know to remind me to remind me how cool and important what we were doing was and then finally being here right now and selling the film you know your not all here if George isnt here hes protecting me now I mean your seeing it right in front of you so and always George and also I think its important to point out and you guys know this sometimes it gets lost in the translation executive producer of the film is not producing the film those two produce the film they do the work they get the money they put the money together they actually day in and day out produce the film which is why if the film wins an Oscar the producer gets an Oscar the executive producers job is to look out for you know to help knock your way through road blocks so all my job was to do was whatever their vision was the film makers vision was to make sure that it gets realized whatever way possible thats not very difficult when you have very smart people thats their they did that not me (talks) ? well not all executive producers are created equally and having George Clooney makes the producers job so much easier ? George was an insurance policy for all of us in many ways George yes thats me an insurance policy term life 00:14:20 - A12. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony I dont like symbolism with a big S Im afraid like its its your catching someone at a lower than low point when he arrives at that field hes you know in your normal film the hero drives along and they see redemption then they pull over this is someone whos gone way way past that exit and if you live in an unnatural world if your world has become completely unnatural which his life had its sort of like walking into church isnt it you see something thats really natural I think he sort of a I think hes stunned to see something that reminds him that hes a biological being almost sometime I mean its a very powerful in that way how we got the horses to stay still is a secret that we will not be sharing other films will steal our very elaborate technique no horses were even no horses were amused during that shooting for the film George it involved a staple gun oh take it easy 00:15:39 - A13. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton about a girl George good good for you next question (talks) what the fucks wrong with you dude when have I ever answered a personal question in my life enjoy yourself have a nice day 00:16:12 - A14. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George the truth is Ive never had a designer Ive never people ask me what Im wearing on the carpet I say a suit you know its not my style you know it usually comes down to the brilliant wardrobe people and weve had brilliant wardrobe people along you know 00:16:40 - A15. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony you know the big difference if Ive been a writer sitting in a room for 20 years you know and every now and then they let me out and I go and watch and listen but its when youre a writer your alone your by yourself and you dont have anybody to help you out your really alone and the experience of making a film as director is completely the opposite all anybody wants to do is help you help you to death and and and if your smart enough to a get the right people helping you its a very very different experience I really enjoy getting out of my room lets put it that way George what was it like working with him Tilda Tony not a first time film maker hes been a film maker for many many years and hes just directed this film for the first time and it feels to me and having heard him speak about how he writes that his screen plays are just evidence of the film he sees in his head so hes been a director you know in the closet for a long time George it was also edited you know like good film makers Ive worked the best Ive worked with Soderbergh the Coehn Brothers it was edited in his head and on paper in many ways before we started he had a lot of time to prep so it was a really you know it wasnt this indulgent thing either a first time director whos collecting a bunch of footage then bringing into an editing room and saying lets find a movie this is a movie that was so well prepared it was so well done from the very beginning it was like working with an old pro not old but you know 00:18:30 - A16. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tony As prepared as I was and as much prep as we did for this film that was the one thing that was open that was an open question as we got filming people kept people started coming asking me everyday what are we gonna do what are we gonna do and I didnt have it we were in midtown and we were gonn shhot in New York we were filming at the Hilton and we were in that area and I thought really something Im gonna get an idea here something somewhere I knew George had to be alone I didnt know how alone I didnt know how to do it I wanted something clichd on the street we kept looking searching we tried a couple things we tried walking up the street a long lens shot it was really clich honest to god I went home in the middle of shooting we had two days off at one point on the DVD this will be an obscure but the piano teacher I watched the ending of the piano teacher and hes so incredibly odd and I thought we need something thats that powerful and alone the cabs outside and we tried it once we tried it once as almost as a sketch its a complicated shot to do as sketch we tried it went back and looked at it and go wo this could really work we have to do it a different way and then we had to it was a very complicated shot to do for no money in New York City its a really really good police cooperation that again we only wouldve had because of George because the cops want to hang out with George and drive around the thing and put the siren on and they know George is in the cab so theyll do it so we really caught a break and we did it a couple times it was really hard logistically do but that was a very late gamble George its also that thing that you like its sort of at the end of the like the graduate and after they finished and you have the ending and then you sit in the back of the bus and watch happily ever after and you watch sort of that ahh moment that I love seeing what happens after the climax Tony theres one more thing I want to say about it because its too cool not to mention were sitting were sitting in the police car at front and George is in the cab alone obviously behind us we had this very static image that were trying to watch to try and check the camera Robert Ellis and I and we did it kind times and things were messed up because of traffic was messed up or the car didnt move but on one Im watching George and its pretty fasinating to watch and were there reloading the camera in the back and I said what the hell are you doing like what are you doing and he said Im re-writing the movie in my head and I think if you watch the credits if you watch it that way its hes playing the whole movie in his face its great theres an amazing piece of acting (talks) you know what I had lunch with mike Nichols I got to meet Mike Nichols like three months after we finished shooting Soderburgh set up lunch so I go meet Mike Nichols so were sitting down were having lunch I go look so I completely ripped you off from the Graduate and he said I completely ripped off Cream Christina dont worry about it he said grand tradition he also mentioned a long good Friday you can go on and on theres a lot of films that have that so Im fully aware George if your gonna rip it off rip off the good yeah I send apology letters to directors every once in a while 00:22:06 - A17. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well there are 5 or 6 Lawyers in the world named Michael Clayton that Ive had a little Ive had letters from there not thrilled so Ill be facing some sort of charges um what do you think Tilda I am the person on this panal that has had the least to do with this world I had no idea that it existed they had to really convince me that it wasnt all a huge practical joke and a and we went to places like going to a zooalogical garden and look through glass doors and saw yeah yeah theres someone in a suit like that yeah they do exist apparently they dress like that apparently they talk like that but I dont so apparently as far as Im concerned Ive never been sued so I dont know these people George you havent been enjoy 00:24:03 - A19. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George what makes me cry a lot the premier of Batman and Robin I cried that one got me there was a couple of moments in peacemaker that made me cry the beginning and the end 00:24:35 - A20. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George I didnt want to say that out loud (talks) no Id like to take credit for anything written but literally I said it I didnt veer from a single word you know when a scripts really well written it is actually very easy the hard part when its not well written you have to find ways to try and make it work where you have to make up things or fill in little bits and pieces I tried really this is written I had that experience a few times I had it with Scott Frank and I had it with Joel and Ethan on Oh Brother where its a script thats really well written so your trying to serve the material thats all Tony 00:25:37 - A21. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well were the same height Michael Clayton and I pretty much the same hair um I dont know your hoping your growing everytime but probably not unfortunately all it really does is give you something completely different to play which I hadnt had a chance to play before and I really liked the idea of it I dont know your trying to grow but you never know if you are or not you just sort of make an effort you know if you work the funniest thing is you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director but you can be really bad in films other wise its not necessarily actors you know the choices that actors make Ive seen actors improve on things but ultimately if you dont have a good script and you dont have a good director theres nothing you can do I mean thats the bottom line so that s what it requires 00:27:00 - A22. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton structure of film Tony the structure of the film as it exists was there from the very beginning ah it was always written that way you know the movies its a thriller but its not so much who did it its more a how and why they did it then it really gave a chance to appreciate that really finally in the film itself you move past the script in the film itself it really gave a chance to a to be over Michael Claytons shoulder and to go up that hill a second time and to really understand and appreciate that moment theres a big moment that happens twice and to really be there the second time the valueof doing it that way really became clear once we made the film it was much more it turned out to be much more important than I thought when I wrote it 00:28:42 - A23. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George well it has for the most part there not you know theyve divested from doing much business there not everybody has its a tricky time right now because you know Chinas finally stepping up a bit we got some real movement for the first time in two years we got a chance this week Mockumoon went there and had a meeting with Basheer Basheers gonna meet with the pope which is a very interesting meeting ah but you know listen Id rather have people talking even if you dont like them or think theyre unsavory which I do Id rather have them sitting in a room talking France has been incredibly effective right now as they are also in the Iran issue Kushnire who Ive spoken with a lot are doing an amazing job so we have were in a position right now where were in actually for the first time have a piece treaty among not just the government of Cartoon but with all of the warring parties so theres a chance its not a very good one but its the first chance weve had in a long time ah and most of the countries involved have done a very good job in divesting in companies that invest in the Sudan so yes they have and theyve done a very good job (talks) yeah you get most of them the truth is its a very difficult thing you know we talked about this before you cant be topical in films because it takes you two years for everything to happen to write the script to shoot it and to get it out so usually its a little late by the time it comes out unfortunately its not late on this one because its lasted much longer than it should of but usually you find that preachy movies about anything can be too strident you find ways to try to deflect not go directly at it see unfortunately most of the scripts you get are direct very strident kind of piece and there not in entertainment and I find if your gonna do that then do a documentary if your gonna do then make it entertainment not of Darfur but do the Constant Gardener the City of God that got really wonderful film find a way to make it entertaining and I dont mean happy entertaining but make it entertaining make a film or go make a documentary one of the two 00:31:27 - A24. HRN-1485 In: 00.31.27 Out: 00.33.06 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton George they were thrilled Tony they really want to go on record a lot of guys want to come out and say thats what they do um you know this is not a job description that law firms really have theyre no ad in the economist that says you know were looking for a fixer and the character in the film wasnt hired for that job its something he evolved into when I went around theres a lot of law firms in New York that a lot of Attornys and as I was working up the character what I would do which I do for research for any kind of movie is go to somebody who really knows about it and say heres what Im thinking about doing heres my character heres what heres where they came from heres what they do the money they make do you believe in that character and as I went around the reposes were really encouraging we dont have anybody at our firm like that but we used to I dont have anybody but I know a guy at another firm who were supposed to call if we have a problem we have a guy but he doesnt look like George Clooney you know ah its not there are people who fix everything there are people the Hollywood Studio system has known for years Washington is full I mean any time you have money and problems put together someone is going to find a way to facilitate it easier than someone else and rich people are going to find a way to find a VIP room I mean theres always a VIP theres always a champagne room the guy even says theres always a way but no one came forward and said they wanted to be the poster representative for Michael Clayton George Consultant Tony yes exactly we have no official Michael Clayton Consultant 00:33:30 - A25. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Tilda Pass, irrelevant to me really um Im its not a language I talk at all Im afraid I think you need to hear from this one George Im celebrity obsessed explain the question for me again because I was waiting for Tilda to answer (talks) but you know thats in fairness its not about sort of now because if you think about it if you think about movie stars which dont really exist anymore they sort of stopped with the advent of television really movie stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy Bogart they really basically played themselves in all those movies you know we knew them as that there wasnt no sort of like there was Lawrence Olivier who played a lot of characters but we didnt take to him as much as you took to Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable or Cary Grant or Gregory Peck they basically played that same thing so in a way were able to break out from that a little bit more the unfortunate thing I think is your demystified because they know more about your life because there are so many outlets and things like that but in a way your sort of set free because you know theres always gonna be theres an awful lot of celebrities out there you were talking about this before the sort of sucking up the celebrity air that arent really doing anything you know theres a bunch of them that havent done anything and are famous and you go well ok when that it sort of creates a sort of vacuum in a way Brad Pitt ok you know there are people its just that world where you go suddenly people are famous for not doing anything I used to think that was sort of hard to do I dont you know maybe you guys have examples of times years past but it seems to be more now but you know this is a cycle yeah Andy Warhols 15 min 00:36:10 - A26. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton inspired the story Tony it was an environment that I thought was interesting and hadnt seen before I thought there was I found this character and the moment that I landed on the character and sort of put it down you put like a seed in the ground and you in this environment and this character it was an embarrassment of riches it was actually hard to reign the story in it took a long time to write the script because there were so many ways to go there was so much which makes you know thats a really good feeling as a writer and I just you know I start pulling the string its the same way the only way that I know how to work you sort of start from something small you start you knit one row and you knit another row and you go wait a minute this is interesting over here you follow it and you make a big mess and then you have a big mess and you start to clean it up and its the same I dont really have any other process then to keep moving one step in front of the other finally in the end you hope that what you think and you hope that the world around you everything sort of has informed it but um thats I hoipe thats an answer 00:37:40 - A27. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Brad and George George you know I dont like him Ill tell you right off the bat hes very short I dont know if youve seen him very tiny hes a tiny little fella no never any competition with my friends never you know its a weird thing but you try not compete in art cause it always seems sort of strange I couldnt do the things he does ever you know so no no competition at all I feel some competition with matt Damon though cause Id like to kick his ass I actually dont feel its sort of an interesting thing about awards seasons which Ive gone through now once and when you finish it you sort of get this feeling of silt that you were talking about at the beginning of the movie where a patina where you find yourself Im helping the film and its a good thing but at some point your actually campaigning the idea that you should compare art and I always think thats a dangerous place to go because I remember watching David Stritherron nominated for Murrow and Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Capote and they were people were arguing whos given a better performance and you go have them switch roles you cant compare art so theres never any competition you hope there isnt any (talks) Ive never done it before ah I havent ever been asked I dont know why they dont think Im smart 00:39:40 - A28. HRN-1485 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton Favorite Brad Pitt Movie George Johnny Suede no let me think in fairness Ill tell you what hes a really brave actor which is an interesting thing people often dont say that enough about him he does performances what he did in Snatch is just phenomenal he can do hes a really brave actor Im working with him right now on the Coen brothers movie and hes doing stuff in it because hes gonna steal the movie and Im gonna murder him for it but theres you can go through a list of them hes great in fight club and all those films but snatch is just a phenomenal performance should have been nominated for it
- Collection: Historic Films
- Producer:Historic Films
- Transmission Date:01/01/2007
- Rights:On request
- Decade: 2000s
- File Name: FJ-HRN-1485