David Carradine Movie Producer Finds Irony In Promotion Plans
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Jul 10, 2009
David Carradine died just weeks before he was set to start promoting the DVD release of his film "Break," and while he obviously wasn't able to fulfill his commitment, he has already done more for the movie in death than he could have ever done alive.
David Carradine Movie Producer Finds Irony In Promotion Plans (Image: WENN)
"I almost didn't believe it when I heard he had passed, and then I turned on the news and saw," recalls the film's director Marc Clebanoff. "After I started going over in my mind what the repercussions were going to be, one of the thoughts that occurred to me was that I had just spoken to him several weeks prior about him doing some PR, and he was very agreeable to the idea. He had participated in a Q&A, and he had said very specifically that he really liked the film," adds Clebanoff.
"I hate to admit it, but one of my first thoughts was, 'Oh, no, we're going to lose all of that promotion that he was going to do.' Ironically, it didn't occur to me until later that we ended up getting more press, in kind of a bittersweet way, in that first day than we would have gotten in a year of him promoting."
While there are still many questions surrounding Carradine's death, Clebanoff says he will always remember him for being a great actor. "I think his career and his status as an icon is going to be remembered as much as his demise. Obviously the circumstances surrounding his death are very questionable and mysterious, so that's going to be talked about for years to come I'm sure, but I don't know that it will overshadow what the man accomplished in his career," he notes. Clebanoff's film, which also stars Frank Krueger, Michael Madsen and Chad Everett, hits DVD on July 14. "With this being one of David's last films, I'm glad it seemed to be something he was pleased with."
ACTING POLITICALLY: Well, after other stars of TV pilots for this coming season have either started ramping up for production and promotion -- or folded their tents and gone home -- Anna Chlumsky is still awaiting word on the fate of her "House Rules" pilot for CBS. With its cast options extended last week, the series that follows the freshman class of Congress as they begin their careers in Washington, D.C., might become a midseason replacement show. Or not. "I would love to hear that it has a future," she tells us. But either way, the 28-year-old actress, who rose to fame in the "My Girl" movies is going to be busy. She has a movie for Lifetime with Kristin Chenoweth shooting this summer. She's talking theater projects -- "It's been a year since I've done a play" -- and she has the U.S. release of the BBC Films-IFC Films political satire "In the Loop." Chlumsky costars with Simon Foster, James Gandolfini, David Rasche, Mimi Kennedy and others in Armando Iannucci's farcical flick in which a slip of the lip by a British official has the country hurtling toward war.
"I love this kind of humor. I'm so grateful and blessed to be part of this awesome British comedic tradition. I've long been a fan of it. Monty Python is mother's milk to me," she declares. Having back-to-back projects that have her politically involved, albeit on two sides of the Atlantic, works for Chlumsky. "I actually studied international relations in school," notes the University of Chicago grad.
Chlumsky is aware that political satire is a tough genre to pull off in films, but believes "In the Loop" -- beginning its limited release July 24 -- has an advantage in its roots. "I think in the grand scheme of things, Europeans have been around so much longer than we have -- they've gone through more revolutions, civil wars, regime changes and paradigm shifts -- they're in a cultural position of not taking themselves as seriously as we do," she opines. "They're not terribly precious about themselves and the world at large. You have to take a step back and not take yourselves too seriously."
ON THE OTHER HAND: England's top-rated sitcom, "My Family" -- which is seen here via BBC America -- is the only TV show in the United Kingdom that uses an American-style writing team concept. Not only is the show a ratings winner, it's also a finalist in the Best Comedy category for the third time in England's upcoming "TVQuick & TVChoice" Awards, having already won twice. The awards are voted on by viewers. "My Family," produced by Don Taffner Jr., is about a dentist (Robert Lindsay), husband and father in a bit of a mid-life crisis. It's from DLT Entertainment, an American company, which also produced Dame Judi Dench's delightful "As Time Goes By" series, seen here on PBS, in addition to having been responsible for "Three's Company" and "Too Close for Comfort."
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