Interview with Alan Brown (About Simon's new movie)

From:Sundance Channel
Date:Jan,2004

Alan Brown's first film, the half-hour, narrative O BEAUTIFUL, which he both wrote and directed, won the Future Filmmaker Award at the 2002 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, and was an official selection of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It has been singled out by critics as "superb," "powerful and ultimately beautiful" "an angsty thriller" and "a rare piece of film making." Brown is the recipient of many writing awards, including National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships. His award-winning novel, AUDREY HEPBURN'S NECK, has been translated into seven languages.

Where did you grow up?
Scranton, Pennsylvania, unfortunately. It wasn't a place that nurtured creativity.

What book are you currently reading?
I'm reading Anthony Swofford's Jarhead, and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I read mostly non-fiction and usually read more than one book at a time - always late at night, always lying on the sofa.

What music are your currently listening to?
Clem Snide; The Magnetic Fields; lots of jazz, particularly saxophone.

What was the first film you remember seeing?
Hmm. My mother took me with her to see SOUTH PACIFIC when I was about three. She started crying, which upset me, so I started crying.

What was the first film you took a date to and how did it go?
I've blocked out all early dates.

Which actor, living or dead, would you most like to work with?
Simon Baker. I just worked with him on BOOK OF LOVE. He's a great actor and we have a wonderful working relationship. And, most important, I trust him completely. Why start over with someone new?

What film would you most like to remake, or see remade?
Nothing comes to mind.

If you couldn't make films, what would you do?
No problem. I'd write - which is what I was doing before I started making films.

What stories or topics do you feel need to be covered at this point in time?
There are no specific stories, but what interests me personally are stories where the personal and political intersect. Our current administration scares the shit out of me, and I think we all have to rethink the definition of America and its place in the world, and who we are and want to be as Americans. And how our everyday decisions ripple out into the world.

http://www.sundancechannel.com/festival/profiles/index.php?ixContent=5767

Book of love movie.com