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Q&A: Director Hilla Medalia Talks “THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS”
in: Fearful Features,Movies/TV,News | May 1, 2015 - 12:48 pm | by: Chris Alexander | Comments Off on Q&A: Director Hilla Medalia Talks “THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS”
Tel Aviv-based documentarian Hilla Medalia’s THE GO-GO BOYS, a critically acclaimed look at the wild lives of Cannon Films bigwigs Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, has its Canadian premiere next Wednesday, May 6 (it also plays May 9) at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and FANGORIA spoke to Medalia to mark the occasion.
The Toronto fest (purchase tickets and see the full lineup here) uses Jewish culture as its obvious foundation, but veers into unexpected programming directions, especially in regards to its championing of classic and contemporary genre films. Thus it’s a perfect match for THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS, a more cinematic companion to Aussie director Mark Hartley’s splashier ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS. While the latter picture is certainly a fantastic, clip-filled party loaded with celebrities and stories both hilarious and hideous, THE GO-GO BOYS has something Hartley’s work lacks: the cooperation and copious new interview footage of Golan and Globus themselves!
The Israeli-born moguls came to Hollywood full of dreams, and essentially, for a brief, beautiful period of time, owned Tinseltown and were fixtures at Cannes. Their recipe was to simply pump out as many loud, violent and trashy mid-budget action, fantasy and horror films as they could, giving work to many legendary stars and filmmakers, getting major distribution around the world and creating a sort of subgenre unto themselves; they were AIP with an Uzi.
Of course, like many great things in life, the Cannon saga didn’t come to a happy ending: the company disbanded and Golan and Globus acrimoniously separated. But Medalia’s beautifully made and truly wonderful THE GO-GO BOYS is both a celebration of weird cinema and a love letter to a kind of independent, ambitious and larger-than-life creative spirit that has sadly ebbed in recent years.
FANGORIA: From a narrative standpoint, putting this documentary together, did you see it as an immigrant story, primarily?
HILLA MEDALIA (pictured right): It was interesting: When I first met Golan and Globus, there were two things I noticed right away that drew me into this story. One was the relationship between them. I wanted to meet them together that first time because I wanted both of them on board for the film. I would ask them something, and it would be a one-hour argument about the answer; it was hilarious. I thought this dynamic between them was fascinating. The other thing was the overall story of these two guys from this little town in Israel who had a dream to make it in Hollywood, and just went out there and did everything they could and became so big. I’m not a huge fan of their movies, but I came into making this film from that point of view; I was more interested in this other side. I had a screening in Pittsburgh, and people came with photo albums of themselves with Menahem and Yoram and the stars of the movies. I think THE GO-GO BOYS appeals to both types of people. I was interested not so much in the films but the filmmakers’ journey.
FANG: Do you see it as a bit of a tragedy as well?
MEDALIA: I think it’s sad, because it was like a divorce. It’s about their relationship, and in a way it’s like a love story: They’re together and then they split. There are other elements I find sad; Menahem really lost everything. The good thing is that this film actually brought him and Yoram to Cannes again, and it was, in a way, closing the circle for him. It was very unfortunate for him; he really didn’t have any money, and he was sitting in his house writing all these scripts.
FANG: Toward the last quarter of the film, there’s an interview with Golan where he gets his back up to some degree when asked about his failures, which he refuses to acknowledge…
MEDALIA: One of the things I say in the film is that I can see how Menahem was getting old, and that was actually one of the later interviews they did. Not the last one, but the one before the last. Menaham was very optimistic, and I think that was how he got his drive. He was like, “OK, we failed, doesn’t matter; let’s move forward. Always look forward.” Seeing him always looking at the positive side and always looking ahead was very inspiring.
Still, one of the challenges I had was that they obviously had a lot of failures, and Menahem would never talk about them. It took me some time until I felt comfortable enough to confront him, and he got upset. On one hand, he was screaming at me and speaking to me in that very Menahem style of being harsh and in-your-face, but on the other hand, he wouldn’t tell me something like, “What do you know, you’re so young, you haven’t done anything.” He wouldn’t say anything to really insult me all the way. He would say, “Why do you care, why do you want to know so much? I don’t want to talk about it; we didn’t have any failures.” He was really strong about not wanting to discuss it.
FANG: How long did you spend with them?
MEDALIA: I think it was about three years. It was a real process, because even when I got them to sign off and go on this journey with me, it then took me six months to interview Yoram the first time. He never wanted to be interviewed, even though he really wanted the film to happen. It’s interesting, because when you look at all the art and material, you always see Menahem; Menahem is everywhere. There is so little of Yoram.
FANG: You see this in a lot of creative partnerships: One is the larger-than-life character, and the other is quietly pulling the strings in the back. You said you consider this a kind of love story. Did you develop affection for both men by the end of this journey?
MEDALIA: Yeah, I spent a lot of time with them, and you develop a relationship with the people you work with and their families. I got very close to them, and that’s important when you make a film; you need to truly know and understand them, and keep the people you’re shooting close to you so they can open up.
FANG: If you have something scripted, you know when to stop. But when you’re making a documentary, especially one that covers this span of time and this much history, how do you know when the film is complete?
MEDALIA: It was a little bit like a feature where I did exhaustive research, from meeting and talking to people to reading and watching archives. I didn’t know much about their story to the extent I know now, so I had to learn a lot. At first, I learned everything and then I kind of wrote the script. I had to make a lot of decisions because, for example, when they came to America, they didn’t just one day take a plane and leave; they went one time to do one project, then they went back to Israel. In the film, [addressing that] didn’t work, so basically I had to make a decision that, “OK, now they’re going to America, and we are not going to talk anymore about anything that happens afterwards in Israel.” So I did treat it a little bit like a feature.
As far as knowing where to stop, for this movie I didn’t shoot so much. I created a list of people I knew I wanted to interview based on the main points within the narrative I wanted to tell—and then, of course, some people were easier to get, and others I couldn’t. Jean-Claude Van Damme took three years, and I got him at the last moment. Literally—I had to reopen the film to put in his interview right before we premiered.
FANG: Thank God you got him—that was a vital piece of the puzzle.
MEDALIA: I had the story, but I needed him, because it’s so different when he and Menahem both tell it rather than just Menahem. Van Damme was a big part of their saga, because they really discovered him.
FANG: Have you seen ELECTRIC BOOGALOO?
MEDALIA: Yes, I have.
FANG: Is there any animosity between the two of you? I mean, they are very different movies—very complementary, in fact. Two sides of the same coin.
MEDALIA: I don’t feel any animosity, and I don’t think it’s a problem that there is another film. I do believe that if I was directing his movie, I would go for a different end, but I was not upset about it, because I think it was good for my film. Everyone who’s going to watch ELECTRIC BOOGALOO is probably going to want to know what the film is that premiered at Cannes, so I was not upset in any way. It’s very different, and it appeals to a wider audience. Mark’s film is more attractive for those who are Cannon fans or Van Damme fans.
FANG: How has becoming a mother changed your work ethic and your perspective on being an artist?
MEDALIA: I have to tell you, it has changed my life, and I see things differently. My baby is 2 now; I finished DANCING IN JAFFA on a Friday, then on Saturday I gave birth, then right after that I did the on-line and mix, and four weeks later we were at Tribeca. Eight months later, I had a film at Sundance called WEB JUNKIE, and five months after that I had THE GO-GO BOYS, then at the following Sundance I had CENSORED VOICES, which was also in Berlin. So since she was born, I have definitely been more productive. It’s a great thing for your career, but you also have to figure out how to balance and manage your time. It definitely helped me put things more in perspective. When we are filmmakers, those are our babies and we take things so hard. She helped me balance and see things more in proportion.
Q&A: Director Hilla Medalia Talks “THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS”
in: Fearful Features,Movies/TV,News | May 1, 2015 - 12:48 pm | by: Chris Alexander | Comments Off on Q&A: Director Hilla Medalia Talks “THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS”
Tel Aviv-based documentarian Hilla Medalia’s THE GO-GO BOYS, a critically acclaimed look at the wild lives of Cannon Films bigwigs Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, has its Canadian premiere next Wednesday, May 6 (it also plays May 9) at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and FANGORIA spoke to Medalia to mark the occasion.
The Toronto fest (purchase tickets and see the full lineup here) uses Jewish culture as its obvious foundation, but veers into unexpected programming directions, especially in regards to its championing of classic and contemporary genre films. Thus it’s a perfect match for THE GO-GO BOYS: THE INSIDE STORY OF CANNON FILMS, a more cinematic companion to Aussie director Mark Hartley’s splashier ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS. While the latter picture is certainly a fantastic, clip-filled party loaded with celebrities and stories both hilarious and hideous, THE GO-GO BOYS has something Hartley’s work lacks: the cooperation and copious new interview footage of Golan and Globus themselves!
The Israeli-born moguls came to Hollywood full of dreams, and essentially, for a brief, beautiful period of time, owned Tinseltown and were fixtures at Cannes. Their recipe was to simply pump out as many loud, violent and trashy mid-budget action, fantasy and horror films as they could, giving work to many legendary stars and filmmakers, getting major distribution around the world and creating a sort of subgenre unto themselves; they were AIP with an Uzi.
Of course, like many great things in life, the Cannon saga didn’t come to a happy ending: the company disbanded and Golan and Globus acrimoniously separated. But Medalia’s beautifully made and truly wonderful THE GO-GO BOYS is both a celebration of weird cinema and a love letter to a kind of independent, ambitious and larger-than-life creative spirit that has sadly ebbed in recent years.
FANGORIA: From a narrative standpoint, putting this documentary together, did you see it as an immigrant story, primarily?
HILLA MEDALIA (pictured right): It was interesting: When I first met Golan and Globus, there were two things I noticed right away that drew me into this story. One was the relationship between them. I wanted to meet them together that first time because I wanted both of them on board for the film. I would ask them something, and it would be a one-hour argument about the answer; it was hilarious. I thought this dynamic between them was fascinating. The other thing was the overall story of these two guys from this little town in Israel who had a dream to make it in Hollywood, and just went out there and did everything they could and became so big. I’m not a huge fan of their movies, but I came into making this film from that point of view; I was more interested in this other side. I had a screening in Pittsburgh, and people came with photo albums of themselves with Menahem and Yoram and the stars of the movies. I think THE GO-GO BOYS appeals to both types of people. I was interested not so much in the films but the filmmakers’ journey.
FANG: Do you see it as a bit of a tragedy as well?
MEDALIA: I think it’s sad, because it was like a divorce. It’s about their relationship, and in a way it’s like a love story: They’re together and then they split. There are other elements I find sad; Menahem really lost everything. The good thing is that this film actually brought him and Yoram to Cannes again, and it was, in a way, closing the circle for him. It was very unfortunate for him; he really didn’t have any money, and he was sitting in his house writing all these scripts.
FANG: Toward the last quarter of the film, there’s an interview with Golan where he gets his back up to some degree when asked about his failures, which he refuses to acknowledge…
MEDALIA: One of the things I say in the film is that I can see how Menahem was getting old, and that was actually one of the later interviews they did. Not the last one, but the one before the last. Menaham was very optimistic, and I think that was how he got his drive. He was like, “OK, we failed, doesn’t matter; let’s move forward. Always look forward.” Seeing him always looking at the positive side and always looking ahead was very inspiring.
Still, one of the challenges I had was that they obviously had a lot of failures, and Menahem would never talk about them. It took me some time until I felt comfortable enough to confront him, and he got upset. On one hand, he was screaming at me and speaking to me in that very Menahem style of being harsh and in-your-face, but on the other hand, he wouldn’t tell me something like, “What do you know, you’re so young, you haven’t done anything.” He wouldn’t say anything to really insult me all the way. He would say, “Why do you care, why do you want to know so much? I don’t want to talk about it; we didn’t have any failures.” He was really strong about not wanting to discuss it.
FANG: How long did you spend with them?
MEDALIA: I think it was about three years. It was a real process, because even when I got them to sign off and go on this journey with me, it then took me six months to interview Yoram the first time. He never wanted to be interviewed, even though he really wanted the film to happen. It’s interesting, because when you look at all the art and material, you always see Menahem; Menahem is everywhere. There is so little of Yoram.
FANG: You see this in a lot of creative partnerships: One is the larger-than-life character, and the other is quietly pulling the strings in the back. You said you consider this a kind of love story. Did you develop affection for both men by the end of this journey?
MEDALIA: Yeah, I spent a lot of time with them, and you develop a relationship with the people you work with and their families. I got very close to them, and that’s important when you make a film; you need to truly know and understand them, and keep the people you’re shooting close to you so they can open up.
FANG: If you have something scripted, you know when to stop. But when you’re making a documentary, especially one that covers this span of time and this much history, how do you know when the film is complete?
MEDALIA: It was a little bit like a feature where I did exhaustive research, from meeting and talking to people to reading and watching archives. I didn’t know much about their story to the extent I know now, so I had to learn a lot. At first, I learned everything and then I kind of wrote the script. I had to make a lot of decisions because, for example, when they came to America, they didn’t just one day take a plane and leave; they went one time to do one project, then they went back to Israel. In the film, [addressing that] didn’t work, so basically I had to make a decision that, “OK, now they’re going to America, and we are not going to talk anymore about anything that happens afterwards in Israel.” So I did treat it a little bit like a feature.
As far as knowing where to stop, for this movie I didn’t shoot so much. I created a list of people I knew I wanted to interview based on the main points within the narrative I wanted to tell—and then, of course, some people were easier to get, and others I couldn’t. Jean-Claude Van Damme took three years, and I got him at the last moment. Literally—I had to reopen the film to put in his interview right before we premiered.
FANG: Thank God you got him—that was a vital piece of the puzzle.
MEDALIA: I had the story, but I needed him, because it’s so different when he and Menahem both tell it rather than just Menahem. Van Damme was a big part of their saga, because they really discovered him.
FANG: Have you seen ELECTRIC BOOGALOO?
MEDALIA: Yes, I have.
FANG: Is there any animosity between the two of you? I mean, they are very different movies—very complementary, in fact. Two sides of the same coin.
MEDALIA: I don’t feel any animosity, and I don’t think it’s a problem that there is another film. I do believe that if I was directing his movie, I would go for a different end, but I was not upset about it, because I think it was good for my film. Everyone who’s going to watch ELECTRIC BOOGALOO is probably going to want to know what the film is that premiered at Cannes, so I was not upset in any way. It’s very different, and it appeals to a wider audience. Mark’s film is more attractive for those who are Cannon fans or Van Damme fans.
FANG: How has becoming a mother changed your work ethic and your perspective on being an artist?
MEDALIA: I have to tell you, it has changed my life, and I see things differently. My baby is 2 now; I finished DANCING IN JAFFA on a Friday, then on Saturday I gave birth, then right after that I did the on-line and mix, and four weeks later we were at Tribeca. Eight months later, I had a film at Sundance called WEB JUNKIE, and five months after that I had THE GO-GO BOYS, then at the following Sundance I had CENSORED VOICES, which was also in Berlin. So since she was born, I have definitely been more productive. It’s a great thing for your career, but you also have to figure out how to balance and manage your time. It definitely helped me put things more in perspective. When we are filmmakers, those are our babies and we take things so hard. She helped me balance and see things more in proportion.