Exporing Life Long Friendships with Literature: A Conversation with Bill Holderman for the Home Entertainment Release of BOOK CLUB
Four lifelong friends have their lives turned upside down to hilarious ends when their book club tackles the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey.
Diane (Diane Keaton) is recently widowed after 40 years of marriage. Vivian (Jane Fonda) enjoys her men with no strings attached. Sharon (Candice Bergen) is still working through a decades-old divorce. Carol’s (Mary Steenburgen) marriage is in a slump after 35 years.
From discovering new romance to rekindling old flames, they inspire each other to make their next chapter the best chapter.
In this interview, Bill Holderman recounts the situation with the fountain and the bracket, the decision to film in LA and working with the time constraints on an indie budget...
What’s going on with you right now?
This has just become like a psychology -- yeah. Should I be on a - I should be on a couch. I should be like, alright, well, this morning - no.
What’s this like for you, right at this moment?
This is a torture chamber of just pressure and fear of disappointing everybody that’s ever been part of this project. That’s what this is. No, it’s - you know, here’s the thing about - about making movies and the - for me, having produced movies and written movies before but then moving into this phase where it’s like, all of a sudden the pressure on - which you don’t really know prior to being in the chair and in a position as a director, but like, the buck does stop with you.
And like that just - you - I’m so used to having like the - all those safety nets and having those other people. And like, instead, it’s like the pressure’s on you to make sure all those safety nets don’t be - they’re not disappointed or - or resentful of like having committed to something. Cause everyone’s name’s on the movie. And it’s like, that - that’s a lot of pressure to to not have them be disappointed in the product. I’m more worried about them liking it than it finding an audience. Don’t tell Paramount I said that. (You’re creating something, and then you’re terrified.) Yeah.
What did you feel like when you first decided you were gonna direct this movie?
You know, it was weird. I think the decision came to be because I was like I didn’t want to have someone else do it. It wasn’t that I was like, I have to do it because I have always had this dream to like direct. I wasn’t one of those like 8 year olds who was like, I know what I wanna do. I wanna be a filmmaker and I was running around with a camcorder, and like, you know. I wasn’t that kid. But I think in the process of the sort of creative journey of making movies, it got to a place where I was like, I want to be the - I want - I want to - if it’s gonna fail, I want it to be my failings, and I want those decisions to be mine.
Cause I think I was frustrated having those extra layers in projects before, where it was like, ooh, I have - I have an idea or I have a vision for something, but I don’t have the ability to execute on it because it’s someone else’s movie. And I think on this one, I was just like, well let’s - if I get the chance, like, I - there’s no one else I wanna do it. I don’t - I don’t want anyone else to do it, so it was kind of a default - default position. I was like, well I’m gonna do it then, you know?
BOOK CLUB COMES TO DVD ON OCTOBER 8
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