Superheroes, making moviegoing a bigger event and the Hollywood writers strike were among the topics of a Monday masterclass featuring legendary independent film producer Christine Vachon that was part of the second day of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises Industry Day program.
One of the questions Vachon received was whether cinemas are doing enough to cultivate the moviegoing experience and audience. “What the theaters are trying to do is create a bigger experience,” she said. “It’s about creating environments that make the experience feel more like an event.”
She added: “I know in Europe this is an old hat, but in America, the idea of eating a meal or having a drink in a movie theater is still relatively new and creating an event where your seat is extraordinarily comfortable with the projections actually decent.” Vachon then joked that “I don’t know if in New York you are ever going to get rid of the subway rumbling.”
Vachon was also asked if she ever had thoughts of making films about folks wearing spandex and saving the world. “Why would anyone have me do that?! That is not where my fantasies go,” she replied. “It would be really great if one of the movies I made a lot of money, but I’m not well suited to make a Marvel movie. I’m just not that interested.”
Is there a dream project she would like to get off the ground? “I really want to do something about the ’80s in New York,” Vachon shared. “I feel everything I’ve seen hasn’t gotten it right. I would say the ‘80s bleeding into the ‘90s, that period in New York City, which was a time of the extraordinary collision of art and music and cinema but also the AIDS crisis, and it was just such an insane, insane time to be there. I just haven’t found that story.”
Of course, Vachon was also questioned about the Hollywood writers strike. “I remember the 2008 strike and how devastating…
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