Deric Washburn is an American screenwriter .
76-410: Washburn graduated from Harvard College in 1959. He began his career as a playwright, penning the off-Broadway plays Ginger Anne and The Love Nest . He is best known for having written the original screenplay of The Deer Hunter after having co-written the story with Michael Cimino , with whom he had previously worked on scripting the science fiction film, Silent Running in 1971. The film won
152-590: A working-class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam. The film was based in part on an unproduced screenplay called The Man Who Came to Play by Louis A. Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker about Las Vegas and Russian roulette . Producer Michael Deeley , who bought the script, hired Cimino who, with Deric Washburn , rewrote the script, taking the Russian roulette element and placing it in
228-536: A $ 5 million insurance policy. Other filming took place in Pittsburgh . The first deer to be shot was depicted in a "gruesome close-up", although he was hit only with a tranquilizer dart. This was not a whitetail buck, which is native to Pennsylvania, but a red deer native to Eurasia. The stag that Michael lets escape was the same one later used on TV commercials for The Hartford . The Viet Cong Russian roulette scenes were shot with real rats and mosquitoes , as
304-460: A deer with a single shot. In 1969 in Vietnam, Mike, now a Green Beret , happens upon Nick and Steven, who land in a village during an Air Assault mission. The three are soon imprisoned by the Viet Cong in a cage along a river and forced to participate in games of Russian roulette while the jailers bet. Steven fires his round at the ceiling and is forced into a cage with rats and previous victims of
380-543: A full-scale release on February 23, 1979, just following the Oscars. This film pioneered a new release pattern for so-called prestige pictures that screen only at the end of the year to qualify for Academy Award recognition. The film eventually grossed $ 48.9 million at the US box office. American Film Institute The American Film Institute ( AFI ) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors
456-420: A game of Russian roulette, pulling the trigger on himself. Mike happens to be present as a spectator, but Nick and Julien hurriedly leave. Sometime later, Mike returns home, but cannot integrate into civilian life. He avoids a welcome-home party, opting to stay alone in a hotel. He visits Linda and learns that Nick has deserted. Mike then visits Angela, who is now a mother, but has slipped into catatonia following
532-406: A mystery I never quite fathomed." Cimino originally claimed that the wedding scene would take up 21 minutes of screen time; in the end, it took 51 minutes. Deeley believes that Cimino always planned to make this prologue last for an hour, and "the plan was to be advanced by stealth rather than straight dealing." At this point in the production, nearly halfway through principal photography, Cimino
608-407: A particular dislike of Americans, and so cast him. De Niro suggested that Walken be slapped by one of the guards without any warning, and Walken's reaction was genuine. Producer Deeley has said that Cimino shot the brutal Vietcong Russian roulette scenes brilliantly and more efficiently than any other part of the film. De Niro and Savage performed their own stunts in the fall into the river, filming
684-526: A qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the annual Academy Awards . The festival has paid tribute to numerous influential filmmakers and artists over the years, including Agnès Varda , Pedro Almodóvar and David Lynch as guest artistic directors, and has screened scores of films that have gone on to win Oscar nominations and awards. The movies selected by AFI are assigned to different sections for
760-400: A result, Cimino was acting without the day-to-day supervision of a producer. Because Deeley was busy overseeing the production of Sam Peckinpah 's Convoy (1978), he hired John Peverall to oversee Cimino's shoot. Peverall's expertise with budgeting and scheduling made him a natural successor to Relyea, and Peverall knew enough about the picture to be elevated to producer status. "John is
836-475: A straightforward Cornishman who had worked his way up to become a production supervisor," wrote Deeley, "and we employed him as EMI's watchman on certain pictures." The wedding scenes were filmed at historic St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland , Ohio. They took five days to film. St. Theodosius' Father Stephen Kopestonsky was cast as the priest. The reception scene
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#1733202435835912-513: A tight-knit Slavic American community in Western Pennsylvania —Mike Vronsky, Steven Pushkov, and Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich—work in a steel mill and hunt deer with their co-workers Stanley ("Stan") and Peter "Axel" Axelrod, along with friend and bartender John Welsh. Mike, Steven, and Nick are preparing to leave for military service in Vietnam . Steven is engaged to Angela Ludhjduravic, who
988-416: A veterans' hospital; both of Steven's legs have been amputated, and he has lost the use of an arm. Steven refuses to come home, saying he no longer fits in. He tells Mike that he has been regularly receiving large sums of money from Vietnam. Mike intuits that Nick is the source of these payments, and forces Steven to return home to Angela. Mike returns to Vietnam in search of Nick. Wandering around Saigon, which
1064-480: A writer, Washburn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) and a WGA Award for "Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen" for The Deer Hunter , along with Quinn Redeker , Louis A. Garfinkle and Michael Cimino . This article about an American screenwriter born in the 1930s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . The Deer Hunter The Deer Hunter
1140-541: Is a 1978 American epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives are upended after fighting in the Vietnam War . The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro , Christopher Walken , and John Savage , with John Cazale (in his final role), Meryl Streep , and George Dzundza in supporting roles. The story takes place in Clairton, Pennsylvania ,
1216-491: Is a training program committed to educating and mentoring participants in an effort to increase the number of women working professionally in screen directing. In this tuition-free program, each participant is required to complete a short film by the end of the year-long program. Alumnae of the program include Maya Angelou , Anne Bancroft , Dyan Cannon , Ellen Burstyn , Jennifer Getzinger , Lesli Linka Glatter , Lily Tomlin , Susan Oliver and Nancy Malone . AFI released
1292-520: Is a web-based filmographic database. A research tool for film historians, the catalog consists of entries on more than 60,000 feature films and 17,000 short films produced from 1893 to 2011, as well as AFI Awards Outstanding Movies of the Year from 2000 through 2010. Early print copies of this catalog may also be found at local libraries. Created in 2000, the AFI Awards honor the ten outstanding films ("Movies of
1368-583: Is highly selective, with a maximum of 140 graduates per year. In 2013, Emmy and Oscar -winning director, producer, and screenwriter James L. Brooks ( As Good as It Gets , Broadcast News , Terms of Endearment ) joined as the artistic director of the AFI Conservatory where he provides leadership for the film program. Brooks' artistic role at the AFI Conservatory has a rich legacy that includes Daniel Petrie, Jr. , Robert Wise , and Frank Pierson . Award-winning director Bob Mandel served as dean of
1444-498: Is now in a state of chaos shortly before its fall , Mike finds Julien and persuades him to take him to the gambling den. Mike finds himself facing Nick, who has become a professional in the macabre game and fails to recognize Mike. Mike attempts to bring Nick back to reason by invoking memories of their hunting trips back home, but Nick maintains his indifference. However, during a game of Russian roulette between Mike and Nick, Nick recalls Mike's "one shot" method and smiles before pulling
1520-520: Is the American Film Institute’s annual celebration of artistic excellence. It is a showcase for the best festival films of the year as selected by AFI and an opportunity for master filmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences in New York . It is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest as
1596-472: The AFI Conservatory , an accredited graduate film school located in the hills above Hollywood, California, providing training in six filmmaking disciplines: cinematography , directing , editing , producing , production design , and screenwriting . Mirroring a professional production environment, Fellows collaborate to make more films than any other graduate level program. Admission to AFI Conservatory
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#17332024358351672-638: The AFI Conservatory , an accredited graduate school. AFI moved its presentation of first-run and auteur films from the Kennedy Center to the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center , which hosts the AFI DOCS film festival, making AFI the largest nonprofit film exhibitor in the world. AFI educates audiences and recognizes artistic excellence through its awards programs and 10 Top 10 Lists . In 2017, then-aspiring filmmaker Ilana Bar-Din Giannini claimed that
1748-574: The Academy Award for Best Picture in 1978. Washburn and Cimino spent three days writing the story, and then Washburn spent a month writing the script. Cimino then tried to deny him screenwriting credit. Washburn went to arbitration and was given full credit. As a member of the Actors Studio playwriting project, he received a $ 1500.00 award from the Edward Albee Foundation in 1964. As
1824-666: The best films ever made , including being named the 53rd-greatest American film of all time by the American Film Institute in 2007 in their 10th Anniversary Edition of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1996, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 1968, three friends in
1900-497: The 30 feet (9.1 m) drop 15 times in two days. During the helicopter stunt, the skids caught on the rope bridge as the helicopter rose, threatening to seriously injure De Niro and Savage. The actors gestured and shouted to the crew in the helicopter to warn them. Footage of this is included in the film. According to Cimino, De Niro requested a live cartridge in the revolver for the scene in which he subjects John Cazale's character to an impromptu game of Russian roulette, to heighten
1976-765: The AFI Conservatory for nine years. Jan Schuette took over as dean in 2014 and served until 2017. Film producer Richard Gladstein was dean from 2017 until 2019, when Susan Ruskin was appointed. AFI Conservatory's alumni have careers in film, television and on the web. They have been recognized with all of the major industry awards—Academy Award, Emmy Award, guild awards, and the Tony Award . AFI operates two film festivals: AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and AFI Docs (formally known as Silverdocs) in Silver Spring, Maryland , and Washington, D.C. Commonly shortened to AFI Fest , it
2052-581: The AFI expelled her after she accused Dezso Magyar of sexually harassing her in the early 1980s. AFI educational and cultural programs include: In 1969, the institute established the AFI Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies at Greystone, the Doheny Mansion in Beverly Hills , California . The first class included filmmakers Terrence Malick , Caleb Deschanel , and Paul Schrader . That program grew into
2128-646: The Dog (2021), Anthony Hopkins 's The Father (2020), Noah Baumbach 's Marriage Story (2019), Peter Farrelly 's Green Book (2018), Luca Guadagnino 's Call Me by Your Name (2017), Damien Chazelle 's La La Land (2016), and Adam McKay 's The Big Short (2015). Held annually in June, AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) is a documentary festival in Washington, D.C. The festival attracts over 27,000 documentary enthusiasts. The AFI Catalog, started in 1968,
2204-457: The Vietnam War. The film went over-budget and over-schedule, costing $ 15 million. Its producers EMI Films released it internationally, while Universal Pictures handled its North American distribution. The Deer Hunter received acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise for Cimino's direction, the performances of its cast, its screenplay, realistic themes and tones, and cinematography. It
2280-638: The Year") and ten outstanding television programs ("TV Programs of the Year"). The awards are a non-competitive acknowledgment of excellence. The awards are announced in December, and a private luncheon for award honorees takes place the following January. The AFI 100 Years... series , which ran from 1998 to 2008 and created jury-selected lists of America's best movies in categories such as Musicals, Laughs and Thrills, prompted new generations to experience classic American films. The juries consisted of over 1,500 artists, scholars, critics, and historians. Citizen Kane
2356-493: The actors to use the workshops as a bonding process. Each of the six principal male characters carried a photo in his back pocket depicting them all together as children in order to enhance the sense of camaraderie among them. Cimino instructed the props department to fashion complete photo IDs for each of them, including driver licenses and medical cards, to enhance each actor's sense of his character. There has been considerable debate and controversy about how The Deer Hunter
Deric Washburn - Misplaced Pages Continue
2432-672: The arts and academia. The institute established a training program for filmmakers known then as the Center for Advanced Film Studies. Also created in the early years were a repertory film exhibition program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the AFI Catalog of Feature Films — a scholarly source for American film history. The institute moved to its current eight-acre Hollywood campus in 1981. The film training program grew into
2508-403: The beginning of principal photography, Deeley met with the film's appointed line producer , Robert Relyea , whom Deeley hired after meeting him on the set of Bullitt (1968) and being impressed with his experience. However, Relyea declined the job, refusing to disclose his reason why. Deeley suspected that Relyea sensed in director Cimino something that would have made production difficult. As
2584-524: The end, but he kissed me when we both got Academy Awards." Cimino later commented in The New York Observer , "[Zinner] was a moron ... I cut Deer Hunter myself." The Deer Hunter was Cimino's first film to use the Dolby noise-reduction system. "What Dolby does," replied Cimino, "is to give you the ability to create a density of detail of sound—a richness so you can demolish the wall separating
2660-501: The extras portraying Russian immigrants to bring to the location a gift-wrapped box to double for wedding presents. The manager figured that if the extras did this, not only would the production save time and money, but the gifts would look more authentic. Once the unit unwrapped and the extras disappeared, the crew discovered to their amusement that the boxes weren't empty but filled with real presents, from china to silverware. "Who got to keep all these wonderful offerings," wrote Deeley, "is
2736-714: The festival; these include Galas/Red Carpet Premieres, Special Screenings, Documentaries, Discovery, and Short Film Competition. Formerly named Galas, it is AFI Fest’s section for the most highly anticipated films at the festival, presenting selected feature-length movies from world-class filmmakers and artisans. Although it is a very restrictive selection, usually presenting between three and seven movies at most, many films selected by AFI for this section eventually also earn an Academy Award Best Picture nomination. Examples include Bradley Cooper 's Maestro (2023), Steven Spielberg 's The Fabelmans (2022), Will Smith 's King Richard (2021), Jane Campion 's The Power of
2812-402: The final scene in the gambling den between Mike and Nick, Cimino had Walken and De Niro improvise in one take. His direction to his actors: "You put the gun to your head, Chris, you shoot, you fall over and Bobby cradles your head." Thailand US By this point, The Deer Hunter had cost $ 13 million and the film still had to go through an arduous post-production. Film editor Peter Zinner
2888-557: The heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States . AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO , film historian Bob Gazzale . Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens Jr. (from
2964-468: The intensity of the situation. Cazale agreed without protest, but obsessively rechecked the gun before each take to be sure that the live round was not in the next chamber. While appearing later in the film, the first scenes shot on arrival in Thailand were the hospital sequences between Walken and the military doctor. Deeley believed that this scene was "the spur that would earn him an Academy Award". In
3040-421: The jailers. Mike convinces his captors to put three bullets into the revolver's cylinder. Mike kills two captors as he and Nick overpower their captors, however, Nick is wounded in the leg. They quickly escape, rescuing Steven in the process. The trio floats down the river on a felled tree trunk, but Nick and Steven are weak from their wounds. They are rescued by an American helicopter, but Steven falls back into
3116-416: The music for that scene in the same key as the horn sounds, so the music and the sound effects would blend with the images to create one jarring, desolate experience. Both the long and short versions were previewed to Midwestern audiences, although there are differing accounts among Cimino, Deeley, and Spikings as to how the previews panned out. Director Cimino claims he bribed the projectionist to interrupt
Deric Washburn - Misplaced Pages Continue
3192-559: The organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007). The American Film Institute was founded by a 1965 presidential mandate announced in the Rose Garden of the White House by Lyndon B. Johnson —to establish a national arts organization to preserve the legacy of American film heritage, educate the next generation of filmmakers, and honor the artists and their work. Two years later, in 1967, AFI
3268-449: The original script, the roles of Merle (later renamed Mike) and Nick were reversed in the last half of the film. Nick returns home to Linda, while Mike remains in Vietnam, sends money home to help Steven, and meets his tragic fate at the Russian roulette table. A Writers' Guild arbitration process awarded Washburn sole "Screenplay by" credit. Garfinkle and Redeker were given a shared "Story by" credit with Cimino and Washburn. Deeley felt
3344-479: The original. According to Deeley, Cimino questioned the need for the Russian roulette element of the script, but Redeker fervently fought to preserve it. Cimino and Deeley discussed the work needed in the first part of the script, and Cimino believed that he could develop the stories of the main characters in the film's first 20 minutes. Cimino worked for six weeks with Deric Washburn on the script. Cimino and Washburn had previously collaborated with Steven Bochco on
3420-492: The plot. The script eventually went through several drafts, evolving into a story with three distinct acts. Washburn did not interview any veterans to write The Deer Hunter ; nor did he do any research. "I had a month, that was it," he explains. "The clock was ticking. Write the fucking script! But all I had to do was watch TV. Those combat cameramen in Vietnam were out there in the field with the guys. I mean, they had stuff that you wouldn't dream of seeing about Iraq." When Washburn
3496-456: The pressure and had to go home. Cimino then fired Washburn. Cimino later claimed to have written the entire screenplay himself. Washburn's response to Cimino's comments was, "It's all nonsense. It's lies. I didn't have a single drink the entire time I was working on the script." According to Washburn, he and Cimino spent three days together in Los Angeles at the Sunset Marquis, hammering out
3572-458: The return of Steven, who has lost both of his legs in the war. Stan, Axel, and John understand nothing of war or what Mike has experienced. Linda and Mike find comfort in each other's company. During a hunting trip, Mike stops himself from shooting a deer and returns to the cabin where he finds Stan cavalierly threatening Axel with his pistol. Mike takes it, chambering a single round, and triggers an empty chamber at Stan's head. Mike visits Steven at
3648-456: The river while trying to grab onto the helicopter skids. Nick boards, however, Mike drops down to help Steven, whose legs are broken in the fall. Mike carries him until they meet refugees and a South Vietnamese Army convoy fleeing to Saigon . Nick is treated at a U.S. military hospital . Once released, Nick, now suffering from PTSD , wanders into a gambling den. French businessman Julien Grinda persuades him to come inside. Upset, Nick interrupts
3724-443: The screenplay for Silent Running (1972). According to producer Barry Spikings , Cimino said that he wanted to work again with Washburn. According to Deeley, he only heard from an office rumor that Washburn was contracted by Cimino to work on the script. "Whether Cimino hired Washburn as his sub-contractor or as a co-writer was constantly being obfuscated," wrote Deeley, "and there were some harsh words between them later on, or so I
3800-436: The shorter version, in order to obtain better reviews of the longer one. According to producer Spikings, Wasserman let EMI's CEO Bernard Delfont decide between the two and chose Cimino's longer cut. Deeley claims that the two-and-a-half-hour version tested had a better response. The soundtrack to The Deer Hunter was released on audio CD on October 25, 1990. The producer Allan Carr took over its marketing and convinced
3876-402: The standard response was that "no American would want to see a picture about Vietnam." After consulting various Hollywood agents, Deeley found Cimino and was impressed by Cimino's television commercial work and crime film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). Cimino was confident that he could further develop the principal characters of The Man Who Came to Play without losing the essence of
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#17332024358353952-450: The story credits for Garfinkle and Redeker "did them less than justice." Cimino contested the results of the arbitration. "In their Nazi wisdom," added Cimino, "[they] didn't give me the credit because I would be producer, director and writer." All four writers—Cimino, Washburn, Garfinkle, and Redeker—received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for the film. The Deer Hunter began principal photography on June 20, 1977. It
4028-421: The studio to allow the film to be played on the Z Channel before theatrical release. The Deer Hunter debuted at one theater each in New York and Los Angeles for a week on December 8, 1978. The release strategy was to qualify the film for Oscar consideration and close after a week to build interest. After the Oscar nominations, Universal widened the distribution to include major cities, building up to
4104-476: The thing, and he'll go away. I was so tired, I didn't care. I'd been working 20 hours a day for a month. I got on the plane the next day, and I went back to Manhattan and my carpenter job." Deeley felt the revised script, now called The Deer Hunter , broke fresh ground for the project. The protagonist in the Redeker/Garfinkle script, Merle, was an individual who sustained a bad injury in active service and
4180-478: The three principals (De Niro, Walken, and Savage) were tied up in bamboo cages erected along the River Kwai . The woman who was given the task of casting extras in Thailand had much difficulty finding a local to play the vicious-looking individual who runs the game. The first actor hired turned out to be incapable of slapping De Niro in the face. The casting agent then found a local Thai man, Somsak Sengvilai, who held
4256-453: The trigger and killing himself. Mike and his friends attend Nick's funeral, and the atmosphere at their local bar is dim and silent. Moved by emotion, John begins to sing " God Bless America " in honor of Nick, as everyone joins in. While Deeley was pleased with the revised script, he was still concerned about being able to sell the film. He later wrote: "We still had to get millions out of a major studio, as well as convince our markets around
4332-468: The viewer from the film. You can come close to demolishing the screen." It took five months to mix the soundtrack. One short battle sequence—200 feet of film in the final cut—took five days to dub. Another sequence recreated the 1975 American evacuation of Saigon; Cimino brought the film's composer, Stanley Myers, out to the location to listen to the auto, tank, and jeep horns as the sequence was being photographed. The result, according to Cimino: Myers composed
4408-469: The world that they should buy it before it was finished. I needed someone with the caliber of Robert De Niro." Deeley felt that De Niro was "the right age, apparently tough as hell, and immensely talented." De Niro, who knew many actors in New York, brought Streep and Cazale to the attention of Cimino and Deeley. De Niro also accompanied Cimino to scout locations for the steel mill sequence and rehearsed with
4484-448: The wrong picture to each studio." Deeley did agree with Universal that the film needed to be shorter, not just because of pacing but also to ensure commercial success. "A picture under two and a half hours can scrape three shows a day," wrote Deeley, "but at three hours you've lost one third of your screenings and one third of your income for the cinemas, distributors, and profit participants." Universal president Thom Mount said: "This
4560-427: Was $ 8.5 million. Meryl Streep accepted the role of the "vague, stock girlfriend" to remain for the duration of filming with John Cazale , who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. De Niro had spotted Streep in her stage production of The Cherry Orchard and suggested she play his girlfriend Linda. Meryl Streep wrote all of her lines. Streep is said to have accepted the role, primarily, to be with Cazale. Before
4636-491: Was 'God Bless America'. Sheinberg thought it was anti-American. He was vehement. He said something like 'You're poking a stick in the eye of America.' They really didn't like the movie. And they certainly didn't like it at three hours and two minutes." Deeley was not surprised by the Universal response: " The Deer Hunter was a United Artists sort of picture, whereas Convoy was more in the style of Universal. I'd muddled and sold
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#17332024358354712-414: Was about people who go to Las Vegas to play Russian roulette. Deeley later wrote: "The screenplay had struck me as brilliant, but it wasn't complete. The trick would be to find a way to turn a very clever piece of writing into a practical, realizable film." When the film was being planned during the mid-1970s, the Vietnam War was still a taboo subject with all major Hollywood studios . According to Deeley,
4788-482: Was already over-budget, and producer Spikings could tell from the script that shooting the extended scene could sink the project. The bar was specially constructed in an empty storefront in Mingo Junction , Ohio for $ 25,000; it later became an actual saloon for local steel mill workers. U.S. Steel allowed filming inside its Cleveland mill, including placing the actors around the furnace floor, only after securing
4864-403: Was also successful at the box office, grossing $ 49 million. At the 51st Academy Awards , it was nominated for nine Academy Awards , and won five: Best Picture , Best Director for Cimino, Best Supporting Actor for Walken, Best Sound , and Best Film Editing . It was Meryl Streep's first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress ). The Deer Hunter has been included on lists of
4940-433: Was damaged psychologically by his violent experiences, but was nevertheless a tough character with strong nerves and guts. Cimino and Washburn's revised script distilled the three aspects of Merle's personality and separated them out into three distinct characters. They became three old friends who grew up in the same small industrial town and worked in the same steel mill, and in due course were drafted together to Vietnam. In
5016-646: Was established, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts , the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation . The original 22-member Board of Trustees included actor Gregory Peck as chairman and actor Sidney Poitier as vice-chairman, as well as director Francis Ford Coppola , film historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. , lobbyist Jack Valenti , and other representatives from
5092-488: Was filmed at nearby Lemko Association Hall. The amateur extras cast for the crowded wedding-dance sequences drank real liquor and beer. The scenes were filmed in the summer, in 95 °F (35 °C) weather, but were set in the fall. To accomplish a fall look, individual leaves were removed from deciduous trees . Zsigmond also had to desaturate the colors of the exterior shots, partly in camera and partly in laboratory processing. The production manager asked each of
5168-517: Was finished, he says, Cimino and Joann Carelli, an associate producer on The Deer Hunter who went on to produce two more of Cimino's later films, took him to dinner at a cheap restaurant off the Sunset Strip . He recalls, "We finished, and Joann looks at me across the table, and she says, 'Well, Deric, it's fuck-off time.' I was fired. It was a classic case: you get a dummy, get him to write the goddamn thing, tell him to go fuck himself, put your name on
5244-525: Was given 600,000 feet (110 mi; 180 km) of printed film to edit, a monumental task at the time. Producers Spikings and Deeley were pleased with the first cut, which ran for three and a half hours. "We were thrilled by what we saw," wrote Deeley, "and knew that within the three and a half hours we watched there was a riveting film." Executives from Universal , including Lew Wasserman and Sid Sheinberg , were not very enthusiastic. "I think they were shocked," recalled Spikings. "What really upset them
5320-481: Was initially developed and written. Director and cowriter Michael Cimino , writer Deric Washburn and producers Barry Spikings and Michael Deeley all have different versions of how the film came to be. In 1968, record company EMI formed a new company, EMI Films, headed by producers Barry Spikings and Deeley. Deeley purchased the first draft of a spec script called The Man Who Came to Play , written by Louis A. Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker , for $ 19,000. It
5396-480: Was just a... continuing nightmare from the day Michael finished the picture to the day we released it. That was simply because he was wedded to everything he shot. The movie was endless. It was The Deer Hunter and the Hunter and the Hunter . The wedding sequence was a cinematic event all unto its own." Mount says he turned to Verna Fields , Universal's head of post-production. "I sicced Verna on Cimino," Mount says. "Verna
5472-491: Was no slouch. She started to turn the heat up on Michael, and he started screeching and yelling." Zinner eventually cut the film to 18,000 feet (3.4 mi; 5.5 km). Cimino later fired Zinner when he discovered that Zinner was editing the wedding scenes. Zinner eventually won the Best Editing Oscar for The Deer Hunter . Regarding his clashes with Cimino, Zinner stated: "Michael Cimino and I had our differences at
5548-404: Was secretly impregnated by another man. Mike and Nick are close friends who live together and both love Linda, who will be moving into their home to escape from her alcoholic father. While dancing at Steven and Angela's wedding, Linda accepts Nick's spontaneous marriage proposal. Nick implores Mike to ensure he returns from Vietnam. Mike, Nick, and their friends go on a final hunting trip. Mike kills
5624-606: Was the first feature film depicting the Vietnam War to be filmed in Thailand . All scenes were shot on location (no sound stages ). "There was discussion about shooting the film on a back lot, but the material demanded more realism," says Spikings. The cast and crew watched large amounts of news footage from the war to ensure authenticity. The film was shot over six months. The scenes of the Clairton, Pennsylvania comprise footage shot in eight different towns in three states: West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The film's initial budget
5700-500: Was told." According to Cimino, he would call Washburn while on the road scouting for locations and feed him notes on dialogue and story. Upon reviewing Washburn's draft, Cimino said, "I came back and read it and I just could not believe what I read. It was like it was written by somebody who was ... mentally deranged." Cimino confronted Washburn at the Sunset Marquis in LA about the draft, and Washburn supposedly replied that he couldn't take
5776-674: Was voted the greatest American film twice. The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a moving image exhibition, education and cultural center located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Anchored by the restoration of noted architect John Eberson's historic 1938 Silver Theatre, it features 32,000 square feet of new construction housing two stadium theatres, office and meeting space, and reception and exhibit areas. The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center presents film and video programming, augmented by filmmaker interviews, panels, discussions, and musical performances. The Directing Workshop for Women
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