Director Steve Rash: The Straight2DVD Interview – Part Two

March 5, 2010 by David Dylan Thomas
Filed under Comedy, Featured, Interviews

In part two of our exclusive interview with director Steve Rash (read part one), helmer of such straight-to-DVD fare as American Pie Presents Band Camp, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Bring It On: In It to Win It, and Road Trip: Beer Pong as well as theatrical releases like Can’t Buy Me Love, Under the Rainbow, and The Buddy Holly Story, we get into the nitty gritty of direct-to-video fiilmmaking and the future of the industry.

Straight2DVD: What have been some of the personal highlights of your career?

Rash: Sitting in the fifth row at the 51st Academy Awards, between Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck, with my film [The Buddy Holly Story] nominated for three Oscars. I actually believed for a few minutes that I belonged.

Sitting in the balcony of the Cineplex Odeon Leicester Square between Paul McCartney and Keith Moon watching the European premier of my film. Keith irritated me throughout the screening, getting up every ten minutes to visit the loo. (He died later that same night.)

After a concert, I overheard thirty-something female Hollywood executives talking about their favorite movies. When one mentioned Can’t Buy Me Love, I watched another sophisticated grownup morph into herself at 15 and giggle, “He went from like, totally geek to like, totally sheik!” And then with tears in her eyes, “That movie changed my life. I was never embarrassed again about being unpopular.”

Straight2DVD: Do you usually know when you start shooting that a film has been slotted for a direct-to-video release? Does that factor into your decision to shoot the film?

Rash: Yes, in fact the deal memo and DGA Basic Contract provides much different work rules. A successful DVD original can be more lucrative than small features, which are never profitable beyond the initial fee. Feature film deals often provide profit sharing which includes home video. But corporate “profits” are taxed, so prudent accounting practices and distribution arrangements strive to minimize “profits” (and thus, minimize profit sharing.) I have seen no profits at all from several of my successful feature films.

On the other hand, I have been fortunate to make a few straight to DVD films that sold millions of copies. Home video deals typically provide no profit sharing, but rather, unit sales bonuses that are subject to fewer accounting “variables” (and thus, actually pay.) I’ve made more money from some DVD productions than from some theatrical features.

Is “Feature Film Director” more prestigious than “Home Video Director?” Yes, but prestige doesn’t pay the mortgage. Besides, some of my lowly “straight to video” productions have been more fun than some “big time features.” I like them all. Mostly.

Straight2DVD: How is working on a straight to DVD film any different than working on a film getting a theatrical release? Or is it?

Rash: Work rules are different for virtually every department. Pay scales are lower than anything other than low-budget or TV projects. Technically, you know you won’t be doing film-out, so you can shoot 3-perf film, or HD without a Digital Intermediate, plus you know the viewer will not likely be sitting in a dark theater, so you adjust contrast accordingly.

Straight2DVD: Do you have to make different aesthetic decisions if you know that your film isn’t going to be on a big screen?

Rash: Yes, theatrical and home displays have required fundamentally different visual products, up to now. Wide shots are not effective in the living room, unless the viewer is sitting very close to the TV. Dark scenes get washed-out by the ambient light in most viewing situations. As displays get larger and more people create home theater environments, the differences shrink. Then will be the real problem: which audience do you shoot for?

Straight2DVD: You’ve done two Bring It Ons, the first American Pie direct-to-video sequel, and now a Road Trip direct-to-video sequel. Do you think you’re being typecast?

Rash: Few grownup films get made anymore; the 21st Century Global Marketplace requires minimal language to dub or subtitle. Hollywood has essentially returned to silent movies: VISUAL SPECTACLE with music and sound effects added later. If you want actors talking, you have to make your money within the English-speaking world. The only sizable domestic movie-going demographic is under twenty-five years old. I like character and dialogue, so I make movies for young people today. Thank God I love teens!

Straight2DVD: How has the industry, both theatrical and home video, changed over the years?

Rash: Twenty years ago, 60% of theatrical box-office was domestic. Now it’s 30%, and dialogue has been relegated to the fringes.

Ten years ago, DVD was exploding; then people filled their movie shelves and stopped buying so many and are satisfied to rent movies or go online.

Tomorrow will be Blu-ray for high quality and digital delivery for everything else, but it’s not clear yet who will own the digital pipe, or the content.

Straight2DVD: Where do you see the industry going?

Rash: For the remainder of this decade, Personal Visual Devices will be a fad like the Walkman was; then people will relegate them to the same relative importance as the iPod of today, and rediscover that they want to actually SEE an image. Simultaneously large displays will become affordable, so home theaters will become the norm.

Straight2DVD: As a kid, I must have seen Under the Rainbow about 20 times on cable. Tell me about directing that film.

Rash: UTR was a disaster by almost any measure. SAG went on strike the day before production. The studio chose not to exercise force majeure, since it would be a “short strike.” Ninety days later, when the strike was settled, we were $4M over budget and had not rolled a foot of film. Because of the delay, we lost our Emerald City set, which was the last exterior built on the old Fox Backlot and had to be destroyed to make way for the construction of Century Plaza housing developments. That million-dollar set was rebuilt at the Columbia Ranch. An actor died of a heart attack during production, requiring extensive reshoots. The script was rewritten almost nightly. Because of the 20% Prime interest rate and the pre-production delays, I had 19 days to edit, instead of 60. The movie was released the same day as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Superman [II]. The entire process was so disappointing, I left the business for almost five years. A silver lining was the opportunity to meet and work with the Little People, who were professional, talented, and fun. My wife, Maggie, was the 2nd AD who staged the background action with the Wizard of Oz “midgets”. Their work is one redeeming quality of the film, along with Joe Renzetti’s music score, which I believe is among the top ten scores of all time.

Straight2DVD: What are you working on now?

Rash: I am finishing the screenplay of another teen movie with my daughter, Stephanie, and developing several projects: a lacrosse movie, an Adult Christian movie, a political/social comedy and a documentary about the last pop festival.

Tags: American Pie Presents Band Camp, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Bring It On: In It to Win It, Road Trip: Beer Pong, Steve Rash

Director Steve Rash: The Straight2DVD Intervew – Part One

March 5, 2010 by David Dylan Thomas
Filed under Comedy, Featured, Interviews

2 Comments

Steve Rash has directed several straight-to-DVD sequels, including American Pie Presents Band Camp, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Bring It On: In It to Win It, and Road Trip: Beer Pong, in addtion to a number of theatrical releases, including Can’t Buy Me Love, Under the Rainbow, and The Buddy Holly Story. In part one of our exclusive interview, Rash recounts his origin story, which culminates in his first film being nominated for three Academy Awards…

Straight2DVD: Tell us how you got into filmmaking.

Rash: My uncle started filming with a 16mm movie camera after World War II. By the fifties, he was shooting early Kodak color reversal film. Some of my earliest memories were his home movies of my parents as newlyweds and myself as a baby. My father carried on the tradition and bought an 8mm camera, but his camerawork was so bad, my older siblings decided that I was the family photographer, even though I was barely 8 years old.

Movies became a hobby, starring my brothers and sister. At age 10, I theorized that I could run a roll of film through the camera with the lens cap on, then reload it and shoot it again for real, but the action would come out backward. I wasted the first roll (a month’s allowance) because I didn’t realize that the image would also be upside-down when projected. But the Rash Kids made some impressive (to us) adventure films, “jumping over” the garage, “flying” around the neighborhood, and other amazing stunts with elementary special visual effects.

I was press photographer for my high school newspaper and DJ for the local radio station; then majored in Radio/TV/Film at the University of Texas. Summers I played Trombone in the Crazy Band at Six Flags Over Texas, which gave me after-hours access to the park. To entertain my drunken co-workers at the nightly parties-‘til-dawn, I shot 8mm “action movies” of the rides, only my Jungle Boat Adventure contained near-nudity as well as bloody “tourist fatalities” at the hands of the animatronic Natives and Hippos. At one party near the end of summer, a party guest asked me if I would sell him the home movie he had just seen. I was a 19 year-old smartass and said, “Sure, for a hundred bucks!” (It cost me about ten dollars to make.) He peeled off a hundred; “Come to my office tomorrow, and I’ll give you another hundred.” I did, and he did (after I signed a release.) I should have been suspicious when his office turned out to be in Park Promotions, but it wasn’t until the next summer that I saw in the gift shop, on a rack of 8mm Six Flags Movie Memories, my jungle boat film! It had been edited for family values, with thousands of prints sold. My name wasn’t on it.

During senior year, because I had been shooting film since childhood, I easily won the competition for a job as part-time cameraman at a local TV station. I continued after college as TV cameraman for news, commercials, and live shows (including a Rock ‘n Roll music program much like American Bandstand.) I was fortunate to be hired by ABC Sports to shoot NCAA Football on weekends, as well as NFL games and the Mexico City Olympics.

Meanwhile, my day job advanced to Director and Producer of local programming (including more Rock ‘n Roll.) One of those shows (which contained music videos) caught the eye of a Philadelphia producer who had a prophetic vision: a 24-hour Rock ‘n Roll television channel. He hired me to direct, and we shot over 300 hours of music videos in Atlanta for a marathon pop music program, The Now Explosion and its Heavy Metal cousin, The Music Connection. The initial concept failed after a 26 week run, but eventually succeeded several years later as MTV. For me, it was a perfect training ground for filming live music, as well as visual effects (electography) and dance. I continued producing and directing syndicated TV programs, mostly music, as well as documentaries and commercials.

In 1972, inspired by Don McLean’s hit song, “American Pie,” I decided to make a movie about Buddy Holly. It took five years to raise the money, but eventually I arrived in Hollywood, not looking for a job, but with enough money ($2M) to make a movie. That film was nominated for three Academy Awards and won the Oscar for Best Music. After my first feature film found instant success, I thought, “The movie business is easy, I can do this.” Little did I know how hard it really is! But none of this was planned. Never once, until the Buddy Holly idea, did I ever think I would be a feature film director. To a Texas kid, Hollywood was not even my dream; I just wanted to shoot. So I did.

Read part two of our exclusive interview.

Tags: American Pie Presents Band Camp, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Bring It On: In It to Win It, Road Trip: Beer Pong, Steve Rash