JOSHUA TRILIEGI   STUDIO

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY INTERVIEW

JOSHUA TRILIEGI  FILM SERIES CREATOR

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How did you initially get interested in cinema ?

Joshua TRILIEGI : Well, lets see. Early on, my parents were pretty hip, when it came to art, music and film, so, we had an appreciation for cinema, in the home, but not overtly. I think growing up in Hollywood sorta made it impossible, NOT to get involved actively.  Everywhere you went, the film industry was in your face. When I was a very young kid, before we moved to California, an accident occurred, where, I was in the hospital for quite a while, and I do recall zoning in on the tv and kinda  creating a world in my mind. That experience eventually made the idea of watching a film, maybe a little more important than it had been before. It sounds weird, but cinema became a friend or a relative, something I could depend on. Later, the other Arts, Painting, Writing, also became like intimate friends. You know, when you are young, you are looking for a direction. I always had the idea that if I just stuck with the things I loved most, and you know, simply studied, independently and otherwise, formally at say AFI, and informally, by simply attending the cinema in exorbitant amounts, that it would lead to some thing which,  I might be able to have, you know, a perception about film, acting, writing, directing, producing. Not all at once, but one at a time. I studied and acted in both high school and college. Later I became enamored with directors: Scorsese, Kurosawa, Truffaut.  At that time, there was a small group of people, who prided themselves on watching difficult films. Many of us also had interests in music and art, and that group included Sean from USC, who now ownss Baby's in Las Vegas. I recall he and I sitting through what seemed like dozens of John Cassavettes films. And then there was Larry, who now owns OK Design store on Beverly in LA, he and I sat through the longest Kurosawa double features, ever. Of course, we were constantly running into and hanging out with actors we admired: Matt Dillon, for instance, who was very 'regular,' when it came to just hanging out, he never acted like a star, he was just a guy, you know? 

Though you did not acquire a degree in cinema ? 

Joshua TRILIEGI : No. I worked, directly out of high school, at acquiring a degree in theatre, which, I always thought was a better way to go, than say television, which was definitely an option for young actors back then. In fact the opportunities in TV for acting, writing, directing, costume, etc, was ten times more than today.  I use to get the extra work, and you know, after school specials and that type of thing.  For me, being on the set, was all I really needed. I simply wanted to see films being made and I knew that would suffice, to a certain extent, and it did.  Then Spike Lee came out with his first film and many of us decided we would rather go independent, than say, get a gig at a studio. We bought super8 cameras and later video and you know, we simply made films ourselves.  In the early days, we edited in camera, meaning, we simply shot the entir project, usually a short film, in sequence, so that when the rolls were developed, you took it to the lab and then had each reel tied together and transferred to video and you film was done. All you had to do, was add music or whatever voiceover and that was it. Of course the first i-mac computers then allowed us to affordably and easily, edit, and thats when the real indie film revolution in my life launched. 

Is that how you developed your LETTERS of The UNDERGROUND Series ? 

Joshua TRILIEGI : Pretty much. In 2000, I joined the Silverlake Film Festival as a volunteer, which also led to me and my compadres, documenting the festival, and I eventually founded the archive department.  That was probably one of the most productive indie film periods in Los Angeles, in a long time. Everyone was making cool films of all sorts, shorts, features, documentaries. A boomtown of great artists, all challenging eachother, and celebrating one another too. A very special time for new cinema. 

How exactly, did The LETTERS project come about ?

Joshua TRILIEGI : I had made a short film, based on a Letter by Jack Kerouac and by then had met and or viewed the films of probably a hundred or so creative filmmakers, and, a dozen or more, actually lived nearby. I don't want to make it sound like some love fest, because, it was actually, always, quite competitive, among everyone. Though, that could work in your favor, as a series producer. I had been watching American Graffiti, late one night, and I noticed that the film was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and a light went on, as they say. I had no interest in being a producer. After watching Fellini and hearing stories by directors like David Lynch, the 'producer,' seemed like a thankless role. But then, I thought, if you produce a series, than at least you will have a new found respect for what your own future producer may have to go through, and so, I did just that. One night I invited those dozen filmmakers over to the studio and showed my unedited footage of the Kerouac short. I handed out Books of Letters by all sorts of people and invited them to consider turning a Letter into a film, which would later be tied together as a sort of letters program and eventually we did another in 2007, which was offered to the public more like a multi director feature.  

How did you receive the grant from Ben Stiller ? 

Joshua TRILIEGI : That was entirely accidental. I called Ben's office to see if he would be interested in showing a film, maybe doing a Q+A afterwards. I think, at the time, because writer Jerry Stahl was living nearby, I was talking to Ben's Company, Red Hour Films, about showing Permanent Midnight, which Mr. Stahl wrote. In any event, Ben was honored, but too busy, and then his assistant at the time, simply offered the grant, sight unseen. I was floored. What the reader and the audience may not entirely understand about this type of thing is that, within a non profit festival, each participant within the festival, must provide their own sponsor or ability to produce and or present in a manner that others on the board agree with. So, that was really my first entree' into dealing with bureauocracy and boards of directors as well as Hollywood elite and it was, kinda daunting. Some people wanted to use the money to do other things, rather than present a series of shorts which were going to be created for the actual festival, which was sort of, at the time, a new idea. Usually, films that are already completed, viewed and admired are then suggested to be presented. We all, actually, made the films for the Festival, that was unique. but it also came with scrutiny, criticisms, and all kinds of insecurities from some of my fellow board members, though, in the end, it was actually, embaressingly popular.considering it was a no budget feature cobbled together with a 5 thousand dollar grant from mr Stiller. because the entire project had Ben's name attached, I was rather diligent in raising what is commonly called In-Kind trades, so that local shops, eateries and nightclubs could all gain publicity during the event and indeed, they did. Cha Cha Cha, KingKing, Fred 62 and other locals all came together, it was actually rather amazing.

Explain The Robert Evans Company Connect at Paramount about ?

Joshua TRILIEGI : Oh, yeah, that was very cool. First of all, the entire economy and the vibe here in town [ Hollywood ] was absurdly different than it is today.  Back then, your on the phone with this agent and that actor and this studio and that producer, accessibility was abundant, if, you knew how to do your thing, and I did. So anyway, somehow, I get Robert Evans, who, you know produced The Godfather, on the phone and next thing you know, I am in the office, talking about film with his assistant, one thing leads to another and suddenly, they agree to present the film, at the podium, to our audience. I think we also allowed three of the directors to pitch a film to Paramount, something like that. The lot at Paramount, well, really, any lot here in town is impressive, but Paramount, really special, to me. You know, so many greats. Anyway, thats how that happened. 

Did you find it daunting, presenting a film like that, as far as budgetary issues ?

Joshua TRILIEGI : Yes. But one thing I did, was immediately, rent the theatre myself, thanks to Ben's grant, I had a little power.  So I rented the theatre, I designed t shirts, advertising packages, posters, flers, etc… I called on friends everywhere and we got radio spots on commercial and local radio, in rotation, some of which I actually narrated, that was new. I mean, to be sponsored by a major radio station with its own corporate sponsors. That was actually rather mainstream. We also had radio stations like kcrw and kpfk, local print ads in the LAWeekly, the New Times, the Onion newspaper ran ads with all the directors faces included, it was really gratifying, in that regard. The major bummer of it all was that the festival could not pay for much of the in-kind trade percentages to yours truly and, the next year, it promptly closed. 

About six months later, the economy tanked and quite frankly, I'm not sure that Indie film in Los Angeles, at least on a local level, ever recovered properly. Cinema since then has developed into a big tent movie situation and maybe sometime soon, we may see a return to the original, quirky and textural films that many among my generation grew up with. You know, filmmakers like Wes Anderson, whom I had the pleasure of showing my short film with his, way back when, at IFP West, which was then run by someone who is now the head of a major studio here in town. Gus Van Zandt and Allison Anders and Wim Wenders, you know, those are special people, original, human, heartfelt and hip films. In New York, it was Spike Lee and Jarmusch and Vachon, very important voices, really, now apart of what we could call a New Wave. Just like Truffaut in the 60s. These are personal films, with humor, sadness and poetry within the craft itself, amazing stuff.  

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Are the LETTERS films available anywhere ? 

Joshua TRILIEGI : Each filmmaker produced, directed and edited individually, so each segment is actually theirs to show, own and deal with. I believe a few were around on-line, though, again, I created the series and each director did their thing accordingly, like a Twilight Zone type of thing. Of course, I am no Rod Serling, but, you get the idea. Sometimes I got the crew a location, other times I got them an actor or costumes or a cameraperson. Creative producing and directing without the funds, is an art unto itself. Of course, the thing that was really so damn cool about it all, was the fact that an entire community was making a film. In the future, when it comes to feature filmmaking, for me anyway, that is how I will do a film again, with an entire community.  I sort of go with John Huston when it comes to being On Location, so to do a film in say, Mexico or Bali or some outpost here in The States is what might intrigue me. Meanwhile, now that the writing has emerged, at least I am not dependent on Cinema. I can always just write a book. 

Did writing and art take you away from cinema, since that time?

Joshua TRILIEGI : I don't think so, I mean, I wrote a lot about films, at BUREAU of Arts and Culture, and also, from what I hear from readers, friends, family and such, apparently much of what I did write had a connection to cinema. Even the novel, "They Call It The City of ANGELS," was sort of written as a cable television series, in terms of episodic nature. I was very impressed with what Brad Grey Productions did with The Sopranos Series and then Scorsese and Mark Whalberg's, Boardwalk Empire, just really knocked me out. So, when it came time to write the novel, I decided to also have it be a kind of Spec Script to the big cable stations. Showtime, HBO and now so many others, it's almost a return to what we once called the Golden Age of TV, Part Two. Back to your question, a lot of writers, actors, directors, who do not have other creative outlets, can get very stuck, here in town. I think the fact that I also have the arts and the digression of starting our own magazine, actually took the pressure off, for a little while. Also, I became a relatively obsessive photographer during that time, I mean, I always took pictures, but now, there is a strong catalogue of various type of photography, fine art and everyday images. Our magazine seemed to Interview a lot of photographers of the highest caliber, so that too helped a bit. 

Of course, then you start writing film reviews and feature articles on directors and suddenly, people see that the person conducting the interview or writing the article, is also one of them, that was kinda cool, you know to write about cinema or to write about being On the Set of "Raging Bull," that kind of thing was nice because, people in the industry, actually read the stuff and some even liked it. I should clarify that I was actually compelled to write, so when people reacted, I was taken aback. I mean, when you act, when you paint, that by product is really, 'Out There.'  For some reason, I always thought that the writing would get either no attention at all, and if it did, that the focus would not point at me, directly. But, because of the world today, internet and what not, the writing brought some serious attention my way and that was really unexpected. A relative of mine, asked me recently, if I was not honored or you know, appreciative of the attention? That was pretty much when I decided that, however meager the monetary gain, the general public had discovered something and that I had better just go with it, regardless of having to start ones own company, over and over and over. I mean, we created the early sculptures and had to start our own Art gallery. We created the early films and started our own Film company. We designed and produced furniture and started our own Design firm. Maybe that's just the way we were raised, I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it was very f*%#ing cool: I can promise you that and thanks for the chat. 

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