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| Credit: Joe Wallenstein |
Welcome to Authors by Sasha! Joe, you're a celebrated producer, director, writer and author in Hollywood. What was your childhood like in Brooklyn, NY?
I had a wonderful childhood. I am very glad I grew up in Brooklyn when I did. Other notable people from my neighborhood include Woody Allen, Larry King, Marisa Tomei and the parents of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (The notorious RBG).
I did all the things a Brooklyn kid did. Stick ball, punch ball, stoop ball, roller skate hockey and street football (Go down three sewers and cut right). I stayed out all night, was never bothered by anyone and had lots of friends. On the other hand, my neighborhood was home to many members of the Mafia. One man five doors down had a fourth of the NYPD on his payroll. He was a bookmaker named Harry Gross. When he got arrested it was a big deal and a major embarrassment to the police department. The case was known as “The Gross Scandal.”
When I was twelve my best friend’s father was in business with Albert Anastasia, the Lord High Executioner, The Mad Hatter and the head of Murder Incorporated. My friend’s dad was shot and killed three days after Anastasia was gunned down in the Park Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. My neighborhood had an active fighting gang, one of twelve Brooklyn gangs and was featured in the Sylvester Stallone movie, “Lords of Flatbush.”
Are there any early influences which played an integral part in leading you to attend NYU's Film and TV Production program?
My life was shaped early on by my mother. When I was eight, I stole a pack of baseball cards from the neighborhood candy store. When my mother found out she said to me: “Joe, I will give you the dollar but you must go back and pay for the cards and apologize. I said: 'You are afraid I will get arrested by the police?’ She said” NO. THE REASON YOU DON’T STEAL IS, …BECAUSE THAT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE.”
Her definition of me has stayed with me my whole life. Who did I want to be? Was I honest or dishonest? Was I mean or compassionate? Was I loyal or disloyal? In other words, every day of your entire life you have to decide who you want to be. I wanted to be honest, trustworthy, hard-working, compassionate, professional and loyal. Those qualities have defined both me and my career. In a fifty-year career I have never had my integrity questioned, not once. My reputation is: “Joe is honest, a professional and …he really cares.” I am very proud of that description.
You worked as a Freelance Production Assistant early on in your career. What did this role entail?
A lot of grunt work. I have run for more coffee than the iconic Juan Valdez. You round up actors and drive them or accompany them to the work site. You distribute “sides” or daily pages to be shot of the script. Run for food for the director and actors. Draw up the paperwork for the First Assistant Director. i.e. call sheets and daily production reports. You run the film to the lab for development (old construct, today everything is digital).
In general, you are an all-around problem solver so that all the energy stays focused on the day's filming. Anything that protects the set (time is money). Run for the wardrobe the actor forgot to bring. Buy something the prop department neglected to pick up on their way in and on and on.
Stage background action. Should not refer to them as “extras.” That is a demeaning term and does not do justice to how creative they can be and how much value they bring to a production.
What guidance do you have for novice professionals who want to pursue a career in Film and TV Production?
MARRY RICH. Only kidding.
Many years ago, a Producer named Joe Manduke said to me: “Joe, in order to succeed in this business, you must want it more than life itself.” At the time, that sounded like self-serving hyperbole. But time and experience has cast that line in a different light. You must be prepared to disrupt relationships, miss family dinners, work around the clock and leave town on very short notice.
In my career, I have been punched, stabbed, needed eye surgery because of how velocity freezing wind and stood on broken bricks for twelve hours enduring extreme pain. And always saying to myself: “What? And give up showbiz?
What variables should they consider when choosing such opportunities in Hollywood, or any other entertainment industry?
A very good question. Can you afford, financially or emotionally, to be out of work often and for unknowable lengths of time. Are you thin-skinned or thick-skinned? Can you handle, sometimes heavy-handed, rejection, criticism or mean-spiritedness? The entertainment business is a subjective business. Somebody is always judging somebody. Pity the poor actor or actress who goes to audition after audition and doesn’t get the gig. Pity the episodic director who is a genius on one show and a bum on the next.
How will you keep your internal balance?
Someone once told me, “In order to succeed in the film business you must have an irrational belief in yourself.” That may seem like an odd way to say something but what it means is, you must have the intestinal fortitude to soldier on when events seem not to favor you.
Joe, oftentimes actors and actresses credit their producers for imparting wisdom that helps them refine their craft. What have actors and actresses taught you when it comes to directing talents?
A REALLY good question.
When I started, because I was nothing more than an errand-running grunt, I thought of actors and actresses as spoiled, egotistical babies who were self-absorbed and unprofessional. But when I became a first assistant director and was close to the director and at the heart of the set, I came to see actors in a completely different light. They were vulnerable, insecure and trusting. Putting your image and talent out in front of the world is a very scary trust-dependent construct. They were dependent on the vision of the director, the talent of the cinematographer, the interactivity of other actors and ultimately, dependent on the taste, talent and good judgment of the editor and director.
I learned that quickly and intellectually through on set observation. But I learned it viscerally when I directed “Knots Landing.” I was directing a love scene with Constance McCashin. Just before the camera rolled, as Connie turned her head, a few strands of hair shifted so that they covered part of her face. I called “Cut” and instructed the hair stylist to move the intruding hairs back off Connie’ face, we did the scene in a couple of takes and moved on.
Constance came up to me and said: “I just wanted to thank you. I really appreciate that you looked out for me.” It was then that I truly understood just how vulnerable actors feel and how subject they are to the whims, insensitivity or just plain bad judgement of others.
What writing tips do you have for writers who aspire to work in the Film & TV industry?
Develop thick skin. Don’t let others define you. Just keep soldering on. Understand your characters. Who are they? What do they want? What price are they willing to pay to achieve their goals? And whatever you do, …never give up.
Only perseverance is omnipotent.
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| Credit: Flynn and Miranda |
“Flynn and Miranda: Your Right to Remain Silent" authored by you and released by Trine Day Publishing brings the story of Ernesto Miranda to light. The March 13, 2021 release date coincided with the 58th anniversary of Ernesto Miranda’s arrest in 1963 for kidnapping and rape. The criminal case, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), would eventually become ingrained in our national fabric. What motivated you to explore this segment of history that is referenced often in our social, entertainment and legal culture?
FLYNN and MIRANDA, is not about guilt or innocence.
It is about fundamental American commitment to FAIRNESS.
Joe, you host decades worth of writing experience with developing shows and humanizing characters. Did you approach writing "Flynn and Miranda" any differently when addressing your research and delivery of the story?
I have always said, “If I can identify with or root for the lead character, I will follow him or her anywhere.” If you look at the “Sopranos,” you followed Tony Soprano’s story, not because he was a good guy, quite the opposite, But his life on every other level besides criminality was viscerally identifiable. His kids gave him a hard time. He got pulled over for speeding. He was us, except for that “murder’ thing.
For me, all film or television is character driven. John Flynn fascinated me. Not because he was a gifted lawyer. Rather, because he was so flawed and still able to rise to greatness.
Are there any aspects of the story that were omitted because it detracted the message you desired to share with audiences?
I deliberately stayed away from Flynn’s five marriages. That was not what the story I wanted to tell was about. I wanted to respect and honor everyone’s privacy and the privacy of his children.
As the Director of Physical Production at the School of Cinematic Arts, you're also a part-time lecturer. How have your speaking and teaching topics evolved in recent years? What are the tri-annual safety seminars about because they are highly sought after in cinematic arts education?
Under my tutelage at USC, we have made thirty thousand projects without a single injury. We have set the gold standard for safety in student filmmaking. The trick in teaching safety is that “safety” is not about what you cannot do. It is about how you achieve your vision safely. Most student filmmakers see the world through their prism. The world, the real world, looks back at the student filmmaker.
How can I better explain this?
A film student stages a mugging at gunpoint in an alley near school. He/She has a crew of twenty, several lights, a camera on a dolly and ten yards of dolly track.
To filmmakers that is undeniably a film set.
However, to the little old lady or man just wandering by, it is a crime in progress. They only see the gun. They call the police. The police hear “gun” and they come running.
The worst thing anyone can do in that scenario is turn towards the police and try to explain that the gun is not real.
We instruct students and cast in that situation to: ALWAYS JUST DROP THE WEAPON.”
What is the best life guidance you've received and from whom?
Famous actor Walter Matheau once said to me: “Money is the only freedom.”
What he meant was, if you only care about money, someone else will always be pulling the strings of your life.
What are some hobbies that you enjoy when you're not producing and directing?
For reasons that only a good psychiatrist could articulate, I am an avid train watcher.
Yes, live train fanning is a real thing. I also love to travel when I can.
Please share with audiences how they can support your work.
I will avoid the obvious answer of, “buy the book.” I would like to develop a following. I hope your listeners will remember my name and look for other books by me in the future. I have several other books in development that will be published in the coming years. Visit JoeWallenstein.com to learn more.
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