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Velvet Goldmine Press Conference
Monday, September 28, 1998
Alice Tulley Hall, New York City

Present:
Todd Haynes - Director
Christine Vachon - Producer
Randall Poster - Musical Director

Question to Todd:
Was it your intention to make Ewan McGregor like a Kurt Cobain character?

Todd: Yes, that question did come eventually huh? Actually it was not my intention at all. My goal was to show the political structure in contrast to the dream at the time. I wanted to make the fan re-unite with the music of that generation. One thing that interested me a lot was this very pre-dominant sense of future doom that was present there. Even in the film ‘Cabaret’- they blended very closely with the current lifestyle and politics - there was a sense it was all going to end . The 70’s and the 80’s - it was a blurring of events. There was quite a bit of repression of radical thinking in the 80’s that we completely lost and I wanted to bring that to the screen.

Question to anyone on panel:
With Miramax being notorious for their homophobic views, did you come across any problems in the making of this movie?

Christine: Actually we never experienced any problems with Miramax at any time during the filming so we were pleased with this.

Question to Todd:
Can you comment on Brian Slade’s bi-sexuality?

Todd: I was interested in the emphasis on bi-sexuality in the early seventies. As you can see in the picture at first he has an encounter with a school boy, then you see the girlfriend and at the end he is a with a black girl - that was a very unique part of that period. It was much more like a gray scale than a fixed scale. They were definitely challenging the ‘fixed’ identity and it was celebrated and played to the hilt. The role models were radical at this time. That is why the role of Mandy was very hard for me to cast and I was very glad to have gotten Toni Collette as this character had to be very believable in the midst of all this chaos.

Question in general:
Were the characters intended to sing mostly known songs or did you try to compose new ones directly for the film?

Randall: There were quite a few new songs that we composed - we took on the challenge of making new songs along with the more known ones you heard. Michael Stipe one of our producers,  had a lot of access to these particular artists and he wanted a specific  feel to the music. We tried to get David Bowie involved and apparently he really liked the script but ultimately decided not to give permission due to his own upcoming Ziggy Stardust movie.

Question to Todd:
There was quite a bit of Oscar Wilde involved in this movie- I guess you are over your muscle phase - why?

Todd: Yes there was - Oscar Wilde’s approach was very much from the outside in. I  must admit that it would  be very interesting for a man to stand in platforms and have the wind whipping through your puffed up hair and up your midriff. Women get to experience that a lot more than men.  And yes, I  think I am over muscles! It is just a celebration of life - of appearance and changing identities. It is the process of evolution that I am interested in - take for instance the movie ‘Safe’ - I used this idea as the main character begins to loose the sense of who she is  and through the second half of the movie she goes to get the answers for this. Velvet Goldmine is maybe the most affirmative movie I have ever made which makes me a little nervous. It goes back to a time when an unknown identity was very attractive and this whole idea of ch-ch-ch-changes!!

Question to Todd:
Can you tell us about your casting decisions?

Todd: Ewan - I first saw him in Trainspotting and I was floored. I just could not think of an American actor who had that kind of energy. There were too many Johnny Depp types - introspective, moody types that were not right for this particular role. Sean Penn has it a bit but Ewan brought that edge,  that live, fresh approach and I just knew he would be great. Susie Figgis in London first told me about me about Jonathan Rhys Meyers. She had worked with him in ‘Micheal Collins’ and was very impressed with his work. He had read the script and really liked it - I ended up meeting him in LA - he was 19 at the time we shot this film and he just had this perspective - this kind of wisdom beyond his years and the fact that he could sing! He produced a demo for me over that Christmas and it was just amazing, so I was very blessed to have that.

Question to Christine:
So - you have worked with Todd for so long- tell us - what is he really like? What is really like working with him?
(There were a lot of laughs at this as Todd put on an innocent look)

Christine: You know I have worked with Todd for so long that we share the same working ethics, so we really have never had any conflicts. So he is a sweetheart? Absolutely!

Question to Todd:
What was your reasoning behind Brian Slade re-inventing himself in the movie?

Todd: Um… Well  to have succeeded in this whole political environment of the times he decides to take this direction to succeed. I personally can’t think of anyone who was not changed by the 80’s. There is always some point of an exception to the rules and a lot of performers felt the need to re-invent themselves in order to fit the new mold of the coming times.

Question to Todd:
How do you feel about VG being shown at the NY Film Festival as opposed to other European Festivals?

Todd: Well it is a terrific honor to have ‘Velvet Goldmine’ in the NY Film Festival. I have to admit that the  festival history of ‘Velvet Goldmine’ has been a bit  murky - First we were in Cannes, then the Edinburgh Film Festival but with New York we have been very impressed with how we have been treated so far.

Question to all:
What was one of your most satisfying or rather indulgent moments while filming this movie?

Randall: For me, it was obtaining the rights to play the Diamond Song during the Barbie Doll segment. I was glad to have gotten that song!

Christine: It was during the filming in the academy in Britain. We were in a new location and everyone was miserable and the crew were complaining and it kept taking forever to set up lighting and suddenly Placebo got up onstage and sang ‘20th Century Boy’. Suddenly it reminded us of why we were here in the first place - all the local cockneys who had been complaining ended up boogying along! It was such an adrenaline rush.

Todd: For me it was the press conference scene. I knew it had to be very over the top and Sandy Powell our costumer, just went completely wild with the clothes and the colors. All the excess of styles all seemed to come together and it worked.

Question to Todd:
Who are your influences?

Todd: There are so many different filmmakers I love.. Minelli.. anything by Orson Welles, Stanely Kubrick. All of their body of work were and are extremely influential to my work.

(Thanks to Rebecca for the transcript!)

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