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Thursday, June 13, 2002
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The Creators -- Joel Schumacher
"Bad Company" is the newest movie from
Hollywood creator Joel Schumacher. He's a man who's been through
his share of wars with the stars, not to mention a life &
death battle with his own dark side.
"St. Elmo's Fire," "Flatliners," and "Batman Forever" are just a few of the stylized, big budget blockbusters that have turned director Joel Schumacher into a Hollywood heavyweight.
He was raised an only child in a poor New York neighborhood in the 1940's. Without a television, the local movie house was Joel's escape. In the '60's he became a successful fashion designer, making money and fueling a dangerous drug addiction.
Joel talks about what made him quit: "I got off hard drugs when shooting up in January of 1970. I was 130 pounds, I lost 5 teeth, and I had 50,000 dollars in debt. I realized I had done everything in my life wrong, so I decided to go back to my childhood dream and try to become a movie director."
Fashion helped Joel land a job as a costume designer for Woody Allen, who gave him some sound advice. "He said that I should take a good look at the industry. That there were a handful of geniuses touched by the gods. He said that the rest of them, well, if they can do it, you can do it -- and you can do it better."
Joel went on to write "Car Wash" before being tapped to direct his first feature, "The Incredible Shrinking Woman."
Joel earned a reputation for not only making slick movies on
time and under budget, but also for his uncanny talent in casting.
He hired an unproven Julia Roberts in "Flatliners," and fought for an unknown Matthew McConaughey for John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" when Woody Harrelson was being considered.
Some actors he fought for and some he fought with. Joel says he and Val Kilmer battled on the set of "Batman Forever" over creative differences. "We had a physical confrontation in his trailer. He threw me across his trailer and I threw him back."
Listen to how he convinced Susan Sarandon to commit to "The Client." "I got down on my knee and I took her hand right in the restaurant -- which was jammed -- and I asked her to marry me on film for 3 months."
When he's not on location, Joel lives at his beautiful Bel-Air estate. He's living the life he dreamed of as a kid in those New York movie houses.
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