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| We are Matthew (and McG) |
| Monday, December 18, 2006 |
I finally got the transcript of the "We Are Marshall" conference call from Warner Bros....so I can post the results. (Don't want to misrepresent anything!) It was a very smart move on PR's part, essentially guaranteeing free publicity and generating more word-of-mouth referrals by providing conference calls to invited bloggers. I'm sure more studios will start doing it.
We were told that we would get to ask anywhere from 2-5 questions...but that turned out to be one question for me, and four questions total. I was fourth in line in the queue; asked my question, and the guys started answering; first, the director, McG; then, Matthew Fox, and finally, Matthew McConaughey; and then, the call had to be canceled because of technical difficulties. A disappointment, to be sure, but only a slight one since I was able to get a question in. (I would have been PISSED if I didn't get any questions in at all.) I would have liked to have asked Fox and McConaughey about the whole Eagles/Redskins rivalry, since they're avid fans of their teams, but oh well. I was still thrilled to have the opportunity to participate/listen on the call and hear their voices. Here's the question I did get to ask:
Marshall had several dozen film proposals over the years. Why do you think they chose this one?
McG's answer: It’s no secret that the town was a little hesitant about the telling of this story. And we always went in with our palms and our hearts open and really led by example with Matthew Fox and Matthew McConaughey always conducting themselves as gentlemen. When we went in there and we told our crew, hey look, this story belongs to these - the citizens of Huntington, West Virginia. We want to tell it honestly. We want to be true. And I’ve always likened the shape to kind of the Scarlet Letter where at first they were a little standoffish then they came to tolerate us a little bit. And by the time we were getting close to being finish up, they were our biggest supporters. And they were leaving us relics and hand-written letters and trying to give us letterman jackets from the time. And they were incredibly supportive. And I think that happens because we were so honest. We said we want to take Hollywood out of this picture. We want to tell the story very, very cleanly. And ultimately getting their support was the biggest endorsement.
Matthew Fox's response: Yes, I mean by the time I got to shooting on my first day, I felt nothing but a massive amount of support from the community. And as I imagined myself in that community and having that story be such a fabric of that community, I felt like - I could certainly understand their suspicion of a big Hollywood outfit coming in and making - and trying to take their story and turn it into a film. But I think that the way McG and everybody at Warner’s approached that community, by the time I got to the set, I felt nothing but a lot of support, people coming up to you and telling you how they’re connected to it and basically just giving you, you know, everything you can to take this story that’s such - so meaningful to us and turn it into a great film.
The garrulous Matthew McConaughey: I know when I showed up, I definitely sensed some trepidation, some people going what are you doing coming into town to put a mirror on this magic time of our life that everyone in this town is connected to either by blood, lore or friendship? I had two different people say the exact same thing. And I said well how do you feel about that? And they said spooky. I feel spooky and weird. Those are very simple words, but that’s pretty close to understanding how they felt. I know McGinty is a guy who holds no behind the door so to speak. So he came in, the production came in, embraced the town, invited them to set. He would see what we were shooting that day, how we were shooting it. Very quickly they saw that we had no hidden agenda, that we had no secrets, that we weren’t coming there to exaggerate what happened to them and we weren’t coming there to placate it either and to tell it justifiably and keep it true. And it was a great story to be told and I think that’s what we ended up with. So I felt the town production (become) somewhat teammates, I felt us all sort of become teammates two, about 2-1/2 weeks into shooting felt like there was a real symbiosis of us working with them and then working with us, understand the story we wanted to tell. And it was a real privilege. It was never that weight - W-E-I-G-H-T of responsibility. It was more of a privilege because our hearts and minds were in the right place and I think they saw that.
So there you have it- straight from the stars' mouths. Sorry, no questions about naked bongo-playing; it wasn't in the movie, after all.
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posted by DCSportsChick @ 4:45 PM   |
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| 5 Comments: |
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I lived in Huntington for a year and a half, arriving there literally on the day that Marshall completed its 1999 unbeaten season with a win over BYU. It was quite surprising to me to see just how much Marshall, and the MU football team, means to the community. Even 35 years after the fact, there are many people there with very personal connections; my friend Keith's father died in the crash, while it claimed the lives of both of his wife's parents.
Huntington is a great town, by the way. I'm going back there over New Year's weekend. And while my tenure there was brief, I'll always think fondly of the place and the wonderful people I met there.
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Great meeting you and your husband the other night! I look forward to seeing you both in the future!
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so you didn't get to ask my cancer question...
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Very cool. I love me some Matthew Fox. Looking forward to seeing this.
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Marshall fans are rabid....no doubt.
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Name: DCSportsChick
Home: Alexandria, Virginia, United States
About Me: A chick who likes sports; what else do you need to know?
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I lived in Huntington for a year and a half, arriving there literally on the day that Marshall completed its 1999 unbeaten season with a win over BYU. It was quite surprising to me to see just how much Marshall, and the MU football team, means to the community. Even 35 years after the fact, there are many people there with very personal connections; my friend Keith's father died in the crash, while it claimed the lives of both of his wife's parents.
Huntington is a great town, by the way. I'm going back there over New Year's weekend. And while my tenure there was brief, I'll always think fondly of the place and the wonderful people I met there.