Transcript of Josh Becker Chat on Lycos on 5/30/00

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Events_Moderator: Welcome! For those of you just joining us, tonight we are chatting with director Josh Becker. Josh has directed Xena, Hercules, and lots of other TV and Feature Films. Get those questions ready; we will be starting in just a few minutes.

Events_Moderator: DID YOU KNOW? - Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called Josh's movie Running Time, "...highly effective example of how shooting an entire 70-minute feature in one single take can bring intense immediacy and psychological validity to a traditional caper-gone-wrong plot."

Events_Moderator: Hi everyone , please welcome Josh Becker to this Lycos Live Event!!

Events_Moderator: Hi Josh, welcome! What's up? Psyched to meet your fans?

josh_becker: Very much so!

insaneeditor: Josh, what do you believe modern films need to do to bring them back to the style of the older, and much better, films ?

josh_becker: I think they need better stories! Movies are structure. I'm just reading a book about Billy Wilder. He said " Movies are Structure".

GabbyFan: Mr. Becker, any idea if you will be directing a Xena episode in the sixth season? Love your work on the series!

josh_becker: Thank you! I don't think so. I am the only director that has been on all five seasons, but I don't think I will make number six.

liquid_grace: How is directing a movie different than directing a TV show?

josh_becker: I'm the boss! I am not merely a pawn in the game. It is much better when there is no one telling you what to do.

Events_Moderator: Are there any new projects that you are working on?

josh_becker: I am in Post Production on "If I Had a Hammer"... the final aspect of it. The score is being composed, the negative has been cut, the opticals and titles are being shot. I have another script... many others. 28 in total… But the one I want to do next is called "Devil Dogs"... a True WW1 story.

insaneeditor: What's the status on your western film with Bruce Campbell?

josh_becker: There isn't even a script. Only a treatment.

liquid_grace: You mentioned getting good stories earlier. Do you think the major studios are afraid to take chances on good stories by unknown people?

josh_becker: Absolutely! They are not willing to take chances on good stories by known people. Most Hollywood execs wouldn't know a good story if it bit them!

GabbyFan: Tell us about "Devil Dogs".

josh_becker: It is the first battle that the Americans were involved in... it took place on 6/6/1918 and 20,000 Americans (mainly Marines went up against 40,000 Germans. And stopped them cold in their tracks. That was the furthest west the Germans made it (39 miles from Paris)… they were pushed east until they lost. My main character, Sgt. Dan Daley is the most decorated Marine of all. It's all true.

Events_Moderator: DID YOU KNOW? - Josh's first movie was the cult classic Thou Shall Not Kill.

insaneeditor: What do you believe to be your strong point as a director?

josh_becker: I understand actors! I like actors! Actors know I like them! Actors know I think they are more important than the camera or any other piece of equipment.

GabbyFan: Mr. Becker, do you ever appear at Xena/Herc conventions or Sci-Fi conventions?

josh_becker: No. I have been to one Fangoria convention long, long ago.

Events_Moderator: Thus far, what has been your favorite project to direct?

josh_becker: I am going to be like every other movie Director and say the most recent. However the pilot for "Jack of All Trades" was a lot of fun!

GabbyFan: Have you and Renee O'Connor ever chatted about directing?

josh_becker: Yes! When.... I am trying to think which episode it was…. which came before the one where she directed... um.. with the rabbit… "In Sickness and In Hell." Renee was preparing for her directorial debut so we discussed directing quite a bit.

liquid_grace: What do you see as the role of the Internet in promoting or even showing films in the future?

josh_becker: Well... Not until they look better! Not until everyone has broadband and can get a good streaming image. There is still the issue of quality. The quality of the image. It is going to be a long time before we get a good quality image on the net. Presently you cannot get a digital image that comes anywhere near a 35mm image. But I don't know how long exactly.

GabbyFan: Many Xena fans know you for the comedic episodes you have directed but one of my favorites was "Locked Up and Tied Down" from the fourth season. Can you tell us a bit about that?

josh_becker: My credit is co-story with Rob Tapert. He and I wrote what is called the beat sheet. 12-15 pages long, single spaced, and clearly explains what every scene in the show will be. I didn't direct it, but I thought it was a pretty good Xena episode if I do say so. I kinda think that Xena should never get more serious than that.

Events_Moderator: What was the inspiration for Running Time?

josh_becker: Alfred Hitchcock's film "Rope". I always thought it was a great idea, but a boring movie. Once I figured out what the problem was (to me)... and that was the ticking clock... I felt I had to use it and make a better film. With all due regards to Mr. Hitchcock.

Lunatic2: I loved the ending to "Running Time", and felt that it shared some similarities with Lunatics in that they both had a redemptive/2nd chance sort of message; do you enjoy exploring this theme?

josh_becker: It made sense for those stories. I think you have to use whatever ending seems appropriate. Oddly my 1st 3 films all have happy endings, which isn't to say that my fourth doesn't. But it doesn't.

liquid_grace: What films that are currently out now do you like?

josh_becker: I haven't seen any of them.

Events_Moderator: Which did you like directing better - Xena or Hercules? How were they different?

josh_becker: Well I liked every Xena I did… 9 of them....better than the one Hercules TV movie that I directed. The Hercules TV movie I directed, "Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur," was the worst shoot I ever had in my life!!!!! Working with Kevin Sorbo and Michael was good, but most everything else was awful. Whereas I have enjoyed every Xena.

JTAZ: What do you find most difficult about directing?

josh_becker: As far as movies go…. getting the money so I CAN direct them. As for television... it is having so little time.

augustk: Speaking of "Minotaur" - do I remember right that you said everything was rushed - plus under-budgeted?

josh_becker: Yes! All of that. Plus they had never told the cast or crew that they would be making a 5th movie! So they not only found out they had to work 3 weeks longer than they thought, but they now had to speed up by 25%.

Events_Moderator: DID YOU KNOW? - Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called Josh's movie Running Time, "...highly effective example of how shooting an entire 70-minute feature in one single take can bring intense immediacy and psychological validity to a traditional caper-gone-wrong plot."

Events_Moderator: What recent movies have you enjoyed?

josh_becker: I just saw "A Civil Action".. that was all right. I kind of liked "Election". I thought "The Fight Club" was crap. I enjoyed "Wild Man Blues", the Woody Allen Documentary from 1998 I liked "The Sixth Sense" very much... in fact I reviewed it on my website www.beckerfilms.com. But I mainly watch old movies.

liquid_grace: What's your fav movie of all time, and why?

josh_becker: I will say, for the sake of argument, "The Bridge On the River Kwai." It is so beautifully written, directed, photographed, acted. But the script is just PERFECT.

Lunatic2: One of my favorite scenes from "Femmes, Fins, and Gems" was when Gabrielle almost drowns + is rescued: was that intended as a spoof of the myth of Narcissus, + how much of it was in the original script?

josh_becker: I don't know the reference. It was scripted and I shot it. But for instance… all of Ted's dialogue with the fish? He and I made that up.

GabbyFan: Any chance you might work with Lucy or Renee again in the future? Do you think they will be typecast by their work on Xena?

josh_becker: I don't know ... to both questions. I know I would like to work with them. I think they are both very good actors. They are my kind of actors.. .that means if I give them direction and they like it, it makes them happy and they thank me. I was suggesting for a while, though no one was taking me seriously, that we shoot during the hiatus our own version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe" with Lucy as Martha, Bruce as George, Ted and Renee as the young couple visiting. I still think it would be fun!

liquid_grace: If you could work with any actor at all, who would it be?

josh_becker: Jack Nicholson, I think. Because he is so damn good. Or Meryl Streep, who no longer gets good parts because she is a woman.

Events_Moderator: Has there been any movie you have turned down that went on to be a smash?

josh_becker: Hahahaaaa Nobody offers me ANYTHING! Oh, except "Gone with the Wind." I knew I shouldn't have turned that down! Actually, I did turn down "CHUD 2." I don't think that hurt my career. I was almost the director of "Dr. Giggles" but they got rid of me early on. Don't think that hurt my career either!

Lunatic2: Are there any scenes from your work on "Jack of All Trades" that you particularly enjoyed/stand out in your memory?

josh_becker: Well Bruce is just fun to work with. He makes me laugh all the time. I liked the moment in the lab with Emilia, where he said of out the blue "Don't make me use my stuff, baby!". It wasn't in the script. The 1st time he was dressed as the Daring Dragoon and falls out the window, we put that together ourselves. It wasn't in the script.

Lunatic2: What was it like working with the parrot (on "Jack of All Trades"): was that the first time you had to "direct" non-humans?

josh_becker: No! I have directed non-humans a number of times. I was the original 2nd Unit director for the first few TV movies of Hercules. Hera, queen of the Gods, was then portrayed by a peacock. I spent days unto weeks, shooting a peacock. Peacocks are male... and why Hera would choose a male bird... no one knew. And a peacock is like a pigeon and won't do anything even with w/ fishing line tied to it. I have worked with babies, horses, and Sam Raimi! I have worked with the State Police and Highway Patrol on "Real Stories of the Highway Patrol." so I can direct ANYTHING! LOL

Events_Moderator: Is any of the purported lesbian subtext of Xena planned or imagined?

josh_becker: I still believe that I was the first person to bring it up. When I was in pre-production of my 1st Xena, "A Fistful of Dinars," I was discussing the script with Rob Tapert (exec-producer) and Liz Freeman, the (gay) co-producer... and I said "I think there should be an attraction between Xena and Gabrielle." Rob gasped and said "This is a family show!" I said "There is an attraction between them, and they're both straight!" So Liz says "What -IS- Straight??" I definitely discussed it with Lucy and Renee, who both, as actors, thought it was amusing subtext. And as actors, will cling to anything you give them that will help with their characters.

augustk: Speaking of those Herc movies - there was a fairly intense opening scene in "Amazon Women" - very spooky and ominous - was that some of your 2nd unit work?

josh_becker: Indeed it was! Thanks! I did all the Point-of-View shots that are whipping back and forth.

Lunatic2: As a fellow fan of "Lawrence of Arabia", I was wondering what you most liked about it from a director's point of view.

josh_becker: Well, aside from the fact that it is brilliant, beautifully photographed, wonderfully cast, short on exact right locations in SuperPanavision 70, it has a really smart script that actually has some structure problems. Nevertheless, it is my favorite kind of movie. Which is, for lack of a better term, a non-stupid action movie. It is not only non-stupid, the characters are smart!

liquid_grace: What director do you think is currently famous that shouldn't be?

josh_becker: Steven Spielberg. Following close behind would be James Cameron!

collieka: Do you ever get writer's block?

josh_becker: Yes! But I don't get as scared of it as I used to. After 28 screen plays and lots of stories and essays, I know that if I just don't panic, another idea will come. Through the cosmic grapevine! Time has proven that the idea will come even if I panic, so I may as well not bother panicking.

Events_Moderator: I hate to say it everyone, but we have to wrap this up in a few minutes. The hour is almost up. But hey, this has been a lot of fun and a pleasure to meet Josh !! OK folks, we will take just a few more comments or questions.

GabbyFan: If you had the chance to write/direct the last episode of Xena, how would you end the series?

josh_becker: I would have a giant creature explode from the center of the earth, killing every person on the surface. Then we see a griffin-like creature fly off into space. Or something like that.

Events_Moderator: If someone has a good idea for a story, how would you suggest they get it noticed?

josh_becker: Since no one has ever noticed any of MY stories, I am the wrong person to ask!

Events_Moderator: Josh, where do you see yourself ten years from now?

josh_becker: I really hope I am not in Los Angeles! I hope that I have made at least 4 more movies. And that I am not working in television. Thank you everyone. It's been my pleasure chatting tonight. Don't forget to read my new essays on www.beckerfilms.com!

Events_Moderator: Thanks Josh we had a really good time chatting with you. We will have to do this again some time!!

insaneeditor: Thanks for the chat Josh!

JTAZ: THANKS JOSH!!!

liquid_grace: Thanks, Josh!

GabbyFan: thanks Josh! Much luck in the future!

augustk: Josh - you are the man! Thanks, and good luck on "Hammer"

Lunatic2: Thanks Josh: it's been informative as usual!

Events_Moderator: Thanks for coming

Posted on Jun 5, 2000, 11:53 PM

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Aw, just start all over from the topResponses

Josh Becker trans. , Jun 6, 2000
Just wanted.... Terpsichore, Joxer's muse, Jun 7, 2000

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