Big screen country- Montana to L.A. Commute

Missoula man balances film career and life far from it in Montana

Before the cry "Lights! Camera!" Action!" is ever heard, more and more moviemakers must holler one more thing for crew members:

"Plane tickets!"

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

For people who work in the film industry but choose to live outside Southern California, that means not just getting to the set. It also means getting to Los Angeles, if for no other reason than to remind people with the power to get films made that you’re still breathing.

There are plenty of Montanans who make the commute.

Chris Cronyn and his fiancee were flying into Los Angeles "on one of those bad L.A. days," he says. "You know – you look out the window and the smog is like pea soup."

Susan turned to him and said, "You move here, and I won’t even come visit you."

He could tell she was half serious, and knew it posed a bit of a problem. Chris Cronyn earns his living in Hollywood, working behind the scenes of the movie industry, where he’s been a location scout, manager, line producer, unit production manager and producer.

Among other things.

It’s not that he necessarily has to be in Los Angeles to do those jobs. His work may take him on location for several months at a time: to Miami, or South Dakota, or New York City, or Utah.

But he does have to be in Los Angeles to get those jobs.

"I saw Michael Keaton in Livingston the other day," Cronyn says. "For actors, for Michael Keaton or Dennis Quaid or Andie MacDowell, they reach a certain level where their face is their fortune, and they can live where they want. For people like me, and electricians, and grips, and prop men and set designers and costume designers and gaffers … it gets a bit trickier."

You have to keep your face in front of the people making movies or, as fellow producer Patrick Markey (who chooses to live in Livingston) puts it, "they’ll forget about you in a nanosecond."

So Cronyn, whose wife was born and raised in Missoula, came back home with her in 1990. He travels to Los Angeles five or six times a year just to remind folks that a 406 prefix will get him on the line.

Cronyn does have a face that should ring a bell with moviegoers. The son of respected actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy – his mother, who died in 1994, won the Academy Award in 1989 for Best Actress for "Driving Miss Daisy" – Cronyn used their connections to get his start in the business.

"It’s kind of funny, because my father and mother did not have film careers at that point," Cronyn says of the 1970s. "Back then my parents were Broadway stars. My mother did very little work in film, and my father not much more. I was born in Los Angeles because they were under contract to a studio at the time, but they preferred the stage. They moved us back to New York, and that’s where I grew up."

Indeed, Tandy went nearly two decades between movies, from her 1963 role in Alfred Hitchcock’s "The Birds," to 1982’s "The World According to Garp."

"But they did have contacts," says Cronyn, whose parents appeared on screen together eight times during their 52-year marriage, including the mid-1980s hits "Cocoon" and "Batteries Not Included," "and they got me my first job. That got my foot in the door, and it’s hard to get in."

It came in 1975, on the set of "The Front," which starred Woody Allen as a schnook enlisted by blacklisted writers in the 1950s witch hunt era of Joseph McCarthy. The blacklisted writers would attach the name of Allen’s character to their scripts in order to sell them, but complications ensued.

Hume Cronyn knew the director, Martin Ritt, and lined up a job for his son.

"I was a production assistant, which involved ‘Go get this,’ ‘Go get that,’ " Cronyn says. "But I found I loved it."

Since then, he’s worked behind the cameras on more than 25 films in various capacities, including "Raging Bull," "Sophie’s Choice," "Trading Places," "The Cotton Club," "Fatal Attraction," "Mermaids," "Thunderheart" and "Heat."

He recently served as producer on the Montana-set "The Slaughter Rule."

But, he says, "things have changed so much in the 10 to 12 years I’ve been here."

And those changes affect everyone in the business, whether they live in Malibu or Missoula.

Hollywood, Cronyn says, is "like every other manufacturer who’s found doing business overseas is cheaper."

"Box office dollars are greater than they were 10 years ago," he says. "The number of bodies (going to theaters) is the same or more. They’re making more money, and it doesn’t mean there’s less product, because with the proliferation of cable there’s probably more product – but there’s less work."

Filmmakers are taking advantage of beneficial exchange rates and filming in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and eastern Europe. They hire the bulk of their crews in those countries.

"They pay a grip scale in Los Angeles, they’re paying $26 an hour," Cronyn says. "If they go to Canada they pay the same $26, except they’re paying in Canadian dollars. Up there, for every dollar they spend they get $1.50 worth of services. That’s not even considering tax incentives – that’s just what they save on the exchange rate."

Another change comes at the studio level. Studios have been gobbled up by larger conglomerates.

"You have corporate types in charge who … well, they’re not filmmakers," Cronyn says. "Whether they’re in hotels, or steel, or textiles, I don’t care, now they have these divisions that make motion pictures. Even the head of the studio may not be a filmmaker. These are people who are less likely to be risk-takers. They want to make what’s been made before, that they know made money once."

Anymore, Cronyn says, "I’m not even sure they read scripts" before green-lighting a project.

"All they want to know is who’s in it," Cronyn says. "If you’ve got Jack Nicholson appearing in the phone book, they’ll come back and finance this amount. But if you’ve got Joe Doe and a great script, you’ll get nothing. You’ve got to find the money yourself, and don’t come back until you’ve got it made."

That, Cronyn says, has led to a new kind of independent production, where directors, writers and producers put together packages of stars and raise capital before a studio is ever approached.

It was such an approach that led him to "The Slaughter Rule," a film by Missoula twins Alex and Andrew Smith. After a quarter century working on lots of big-budget pictures, Cronyn calls "The Slaughter Rule," filmed in the Great Falls area, was one of the most rewarding experiences of his career.

From his start as a P.A., or go-fer, Cronyn moved quickly into location scouting, "which I discovered I had an eye for," and location managing. "You find places that meet the script’s need, and then you get people to say yes" to letting you film there. "You manage where everybody’s going to park, where you’ll eat lunch, where you need cops stationed."

From there it was on to assistant production manager, which Cronyn describes "as the same stuff, only more comprehensive, more day-to-day management. Who gets hired, who gets fired, what they get paid. You make deals on equipment, sign off on location agreements, come up with a working schedule for filming the movie. You tell the director you think you should do this, in this order, and here’s why. You figure out that it will take one day to do this and two days to do that. It’s all about logistics, getting people, services and equipment to the right place at the right time."

The next step: unit production manager, and line producer. "More of the same, higher level," Cronyn says. "You’re responsible directly to the producer and director.

"Someone once asked me the difference between a unit production manager and a line producer," Cronyn says, "and I told them, the unit production manager protects the budget. The line producer protects the film.

"Ultimately, you’re reporting to whoever is financing the film. Somebody, somewhere, has said ‘I’ll give you this much money to produce this film from this script,’ and you’re trying to deliver that."

When their daughter was in second grade and Cronyn was working on a picture set in Los Angeles, the family gave L.A. a try. It didn’t take, and they headed home to Montana.

"There are times they can come visit me on the set," Cronyn says. "They came down to Utah when I was there. We had a film where a few scenes were set in Hawaii; we were only shooting there for four days but I had to be there for about 10 and my wife and daughter came with me for that, so there are some little benefits, some fun.

"But the potential for separation, that’s the big price."

"The Slaughter Rule" took Cronyn east of the mountains for four weeks. His family could visit on weekends, and "it wasn’t a painful separation," Cronyn says.

But other films take him from home for up to half a year at a time, a long time, Cronyn says, for a parent to be separated from a child "of any age."

"It takes some work. Everybody has to be on board," Cronyn says.

The Montana Film Office keeps lists of dozens and dozens of people who live in Montana but work in the film industry, available for any filmmaker who may come to the state to make a movie.

But mostly, it’s a list of frequent flyers for Delta Airlines. They may make their homes here, but they’ll never completely escape Los Angeles.

Reporter Vince Devlin can be reached at 523-5260 or at [email protected].

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Montana to L.A. commute

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

LIVINGSTON – Diane Kamp says she’ll try anything once, which may explain what the one-time New York-based agent for actors such as Alan Arkin and Stanley Tucci is doing living on ranch in Montana.

Of course, there is another possibility. Up from Los Angeles to visit a client on the set of "A River Runs Throught It" in 1991, Kamp one weekend found herself in an odd little out-of-the-way bar and grill between Big Timber and McLeod called the Road Kill Cafe, where she met a local rancher who taught her how to play pool.

Nine months later, Kamp married him.

"He made me come back in the winter before he’d marry me," she says. "Told me unless

I saw Montana in the winter, I’d never know if I’d really want to stay. He said there are no people up here in the winter – just cows."

After years of searching, Kamp has found an unusual niche in the world of show business: She is an agent for voice and dialect coaches. She finds them work in the movie industry, and takes a percentage of their paycheck in return.

"I’m terrible at selling myself," Kamp says, "but boy, can I sell other people."

Her clients’ careers may seem an oddity, she says, but they actually keep very busy. One, she says, is currently working on the production of "Big Fish," starring Scottish-born Ewan McGregor and English actor Albert Finney, who are both playing "guys from Alabama."

Hence, a voice coach. "Russell Crowe (who’s from New Zealand) does it all the time," Kamp says. "Talks in an American accent. Well, there are people behind the cameras teaching those actors how to talk. Those are my clients."

Kamp was working on her doctorate at the University of Michigan when she threw her life into reverse, dropped out and headed to New York to pursue an acting career. In 1986, looking for ways to help pay the rent, she took a friend up on a suggestion she try being an agent.

"There are two different ways of approaching careers in this business," says Kamp. "One is to be passionate about acting and directing, and feeling you’re going to save the world through art.

"The other is to get thrown into it."

In her case, as an agent, it was the latter. She says she loved it, but then her company transferred her from New York to Los Angeles.

"After about two years," she says with a laugh, "I started to twitch a lot."

She’d befriended dialect coaches during her own acting days, seeking their help "Because I’m from Chicago and I wanted to get rid of my accent. We have a real nasal twang in Chicago – it doesn’t go well with Shakespeare."

Kamp – who appeared on a panel called "Working as a Film Professional While Trying to Live in Montana" last month at the 2003 Montana Film and Economic Development Conference in Livingston – shifted into her unusual specialty, and currently represents 14 voice and dialect coaches.

Here’s what some other panelists, who earn their money in Hollywood but live in Montana, had to say about what they do and where they choose to live:

MARGOT KIDDER, actress, Livingston: Best known as Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeves’ Clark Kent in the "Superman" movies of the late 1970s and ’80s, Kidder was more often in the news in the last decade due to bouts with mental illness – after a breakdown in 1996, she was found wandering in a yard in Los Angeles. She’d hacked off most of her hair. Police described her as "dirty, frightened and paranoid," and said she claimed one of her three ex-husbands – one of them is Montana writer Tom McGuane; another marriage, to actor John Heard, lasted six days – was trying to kill her. These days, Kidder, whose only daughter (from her marriage to McGuane) also lives in Livingston, is healthy and works steadily, and credits a regimen of vitamins and natural health products with her turnaround.

"Back when I was who I call Margot Movie Star – I was not a very successful human being, but I had other successes to lean on – we had a saying: One for the money, one for the heart. It meant doing a movie for the paycheck so the next time, you could pick a little movie that you knew nobody would see but you really wanted to be in.

"I think it’s pie-in-the-sky to believe we’ll ever create an industry where we never have to go to Los Angeles. The one-for-the-money just isn’t here anymore, but the one from the heart is where it’s at now. Those are the movies being made in Montana, and that’s how you’ll get us to stay here."

JP GABRIEL, owner, Filmlites Montana, Bozeman: Gabriel grew up on his family’s wheat farm outside Great Falls, graduated from Arizona State University and spent several years working in Hollywood. His company provides grip, lighting and support services to directors making commercials and feature films. He most recently provided all the equipment and was the gaffer on the Montana-filmed "Northfork," which comes out this summer

"I was working in Los Angeles in the mid ’80s, I was on the set and just lost patience with this director. Well, I’m from Montana, so I said two words, and they weren’t the good words. So he said two words back: ‘You’re fired.’ Then they came back later and said, ‘You’re still fired but can you stay the rest of the day? We can’t find anyone to replace you.’ I decided I couldn’t take living there. I finished out the day, then I went home, packed up and drove home to Montana. Out of desperation I came up with Filmlites."

The company has been involved with more than 500 national commercials and a dozen feature films.

KEVIN DONOVAN, director, Helena: A Helena native who attended Montana State University, Donovan went on to a successful career as a Madison Avenue advertising executive, where he won five Addies and four Clios before switching over to directing commercials and music videos. He recently made the jump to feature films and directed "The Tuxedo," starring Jackie Chan.

"What made me move back here is the miserable experience of making that movie. I spent all my time dreaming of living in a place I really enjoyed.

"It’s so humbling to watch a movie like we just watched," he said after attending a screening of the independent movie "Northfork." "What I did was at the opposite end of the spectrum. I’m a graduate of the Jerry Bruckheimer School of Directing. I had some choices for my first film and I opted for ‘The Tuxedo.’ I thought it was an opportunity, and really, it was. I have a movie I’m pitching now that I’m trying to get made here (in Montana)."

BETTY ANN CONARD, casting director, script supervisor, production coordinator, Manhattan: Conard has worked behind the cameras for 18 years, also in wardrobe, art departments and location scouting.

"I moved to Montana in 1975, taught school and did this on the side. ‘This’ gradually developed into a career.

"Crews are very good here in Montana. We get in a rhythm of working together, and we’re also known for working well with outside crews. People who come here to make movies are happily surprised at how professional the crews are here. Plus, we’re used to working outside."

PATRICK MARKEY, producer, Livingston: Markey first discovered Montana in 1991 while producing "A River Runs Through It," and brought "The Horse Whisperer" to the state, as well, two of the biggest-budget productions in the state in the last dozen years. He’s also produced "The Joy Luck Club," "Dinner With Friends," "White Oleander" and "Joy Ride," among others. He’s currently pushing a Livingston-set series to television networks.

"Delta Airlines is the single biggest challenge I face living in Montana. I see Margot Kidder and Peter Fonda in the airport more often than I see them in town. It’s a monstrous commute, and the fares are outrageous. That’s why I want to spend less time down there, and more up here. But you still have to travel. If you don’t show your face in L.A., they’ll forget about you in a nanosecond."

RON JUDKINS, writer, director, sound technician, Wilsall: A three-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Oscar winner, all for sound – his work on "Jurassic Park" and "Saving Private Ryan" were honored – Judkins continues to try to move his career toward directing. His first film, which he also wrote, was the Montana-set and filmed "The Hi-Line" starring Rachael Leigh Cook. His latest work in sound came on "Catch Me If You Can."

"For working professionals who are living in Montana, I think it’s safe to say that at one point in our careers we all spent time someplace else paying our dues. We’re really privileged to be able to live here and fly to work. Whether you’re a sound technician, cameraman, director or whatever, you have to go somewhere else and pay your dues, make the contacts you need. A certain amount of success has to have occurred. Then you can come back.

"Ironically, now that I can live where I want and work whenever I want (in sound), as I try to position myself as a writer-director it is more important than ever for me to be in Los Angeles."

SAM DEBREE, makeup and makeup effects artist, Butte: A 1991 graduate of the Montana State University film school, Debree spent three years working in Los Angeles before moving home. He’s been involved in makeup on two dozen movies.

"I had an internship on ‘Far and Away’ (filmed in the Billings area) that drove home the point that I’d have to move to Los Angeles to work. Your first passion may take you to Los Angeles or New York but eventually, living in Montana becomes as important. That’s the reason I came back."

ED O’DONNELL, transportation director, Livingston: Movies need to move crews to and from hotels to locations every day, transport equipment from one place to another, get stars to the set on time, and that’s O’Donnell’s job. Son of a former New York City Teamsters president, O’Donnell has worked on more than 50 feature films around the world in 15 years. But his time on the set of "The Horse Whisperer" convinced him Montana was where he wants to be.

"We’re a very dramatic, free-spirited people in this business. We’ll set up our tents in Miami, Montana, Texas, Bolivia, all in the same year. Living in Montana allows me to go back to New York and work for six months without going insane, because I know I’ll be coming back here so I can take it. I’ll spend three or four months a year in Montana; right now I’ll go make a film, make a lot of money, come back and wait until it runs out, then I’ll go do it again. I sold my place in New York; this is the only place I own a home now."

LARRY MINKOFF, development specialist for studios and TV networks, Bozeman: Minkoff reads and rewrites other peoples’ scripts, and sometimes writes his own. He moved to Montana from Los Angeles because, here, "You don’t feel the urge to buy a new car every six months."

"You encounter a lot of people in Los Angeles who don’t get why we want to live up here. There are a whole breed of serious cats in that town who, the only thing they know, the only thing they love, is this business. The business is their life. You tell them you might take your vacation to someplace a little remote, and they look at you cross-eyed, like they can’t imagine anyone who vacations anywhere there might not be a spa, anyone who doesn’t stay at the Kahului Hilton. These are people whose life is spent worrying if they’re at the right party.

"It’s unrealistic to think you can stay here. I still have to go to L.A. all the time to fan the fires, make sure they remember me. L.A. is very much a place where, out of sight, out of mind."

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