admin Does this company work across all four of these short films?
Yes, but different mixtures. Poison is Benedict, Ben Kingsley, and Dev Patel. The Ratcatcher is Ralph, Rupert, and Richard. But they’re all mixtures of the same group.
Who did you show a film to first after you’ve finished?
My wife and daughter are coming in and out of the cutting room with some regularity. They have their own comments, but it tends not to be the finished thing. Juman, my wife, might say, “Okay tell me when you want me to see the whole thing.” But I have a few friends I rely on. I used to do a thing where I’d try to show a new film to directors I know who can give me (their) take. There was a period of time when I had a whole group. Actually some of them died; when we made Fantastic Mr. Fox we showed it to Mike Nichols and to Jonathan Demme.
Do you have others you rely on now instead?
I have Roman Coppola, my old friend. He’s one person I have to turn to for help. Then I have a little trio of directors: Noah Baumbach, Brian de Palma, and Jake Paltrow. The four of us have a little club that we do in New York. The three of them will watch something (I’ve made), often together, or if one of them is doing something we all see it. It’s a little like knowing someone else who’s a policeman or who’s been in a war zone. You can describe it, but someone who’s been there, you connect with them in a different way.
You have had such a strong influence on other artists, but I’ve noticed that there have been no adaptations of your work for the stage. Have any been presented to you before?
I’ve had a few of them. Somebody had an idea for The Grand Budapest Hotel that had some songs, and they recorded some demoed versions of them. They put it together but I don’t know exactly what happened. I expect they take it to a group of investors and either they invest or they don’t. I think it must have fizzled out. I don’t actually remember.
