Soon WWW was reviewing proposals from the likes of Ralph Fiennes and Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. The role of producer -- a catch-all position that includes banker, creative partner, overseer, cheerleader, accelerator and brake -- seemed like a dream job.
The reality was less agreeable. "Filmmaking is the only industry that I can think of that people can get into without any training whatsoever, just because they like movies," said Jawal Nga, executive producer of WWW's "Howl."
Producer Ted Hope's résumé boasts more than 60 films, including Oscar-winners "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Hope partnered with WWW on its first film, 2009's "Life During Wartime," a dark satire directed by Todd Solondz, but within weeks quit what he termed a "warpath" production.
"It was infuriating for me because of my passion for the project and the time I had invested," Hope said. Still, he said resigning was better than enduring another Redleaf "tirade" and her "illogical" behavior, including an attempt to shoehorn "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson into the cast.
In separate interviews, Hope and Nga said business processes that are simple and routine for most studios are challenging and complex at WWW. When Hope pointed out a basic accounting error on "Wartime," he said, "it unleashed a tirade" from Redleaf.
Hope said reports from the set of "people being dismissed at will, actors being cast behind the director's back, and production being shut down without work being completed" convinced him that he made the right decision in leaving the project.
Solondz, who was threatened with replacement during the shoot, skipped the usual happy talk at the movie's Venice Film Festival premiere. "I wasn't sued, I was never fired, and I survived it. That's my great achievement," he said.
"Our initial productions were an incredible learning curve for me as a new producer," Redleaf said. "Unfortunately, as any producer will tell you, collaborations do not always go smoothly despite everyone's best intentions." She called Hope's account "a fabrication," and said of Solondz, "he's got a great sense of humor."
WWW's second film, "Howl," a biography of beat poet Allen Ginsberg starring James Franco, also was a turbulent ride, according to executive producer Nga.
Redleaf "didn't seem willing to take a deep breath and say, 'I'm really interested in learning here,'" said Nga, who has made movies starring Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman and Pierce Brosnan. In his eyes, she was "a heady cocktail of hubris and money. I don't know if I ever heard anything substantial or constructive come out of her mouth." What he did observe was "vindictiveness ... lack of humility and the kowtowing of people around her to whatever whim she came up with."
Told of Nga's comments, Redleaf said, "We've only met a few times. On those occasions we exchanged niceties and had light dinner conversation."
Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi, a Guggenheim fellow and Rome Prize winner, had an idea for a metaphysical thriller about a schizophrenic to be shot in the Italian catacombs. With an Italian co-producer lined up, he approached Redleaf, who came to Rome, visited the locations and hired a cinematographer to shoot test footage.
"She seemed serious," said Zahedi. On the basis of her assurances that shooting was imminent and that he would have final cut on the movie, he quit his teaching post and gave up his apartment in San Francisco.
At Redleaf's urging, he sent his script to comic actor Paul Rudd ("Knocked Up"), although he didn't think it was the right movie for him. When the actor passed, "she immediately decided there was something wrong with the script," Zahedi said. After a three-month wait, he said Redleaf told him she was no longer interested in making the film and reneged on a promise to send him $5,000 for living expenses.
"Passing on a film is not unusual," Redleaf countered. "Production companies decide not to move forward with projects every day."
The third film from WWW was the Minnesota-shot caper "The Convincer." The intricately plotted crime comedy reunited "Little Miss Sunshine" stars Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin. It played at Sundance in January, to generally upbeat reviews and universal audience praise ("ingenious," "fun," "wonderful").
The movie's distributor and WWW asked writer/director Jill Sprecher for sweeping cuts and changes they said were needed to speed up the film, then took the reins, shutting her out and replacing the project's Emmy-winning composer, Alex Wurman, and Oscar-winning editor, Stephen Mirrione. The film, completely re-cut and titled "Thin Ice," debuted at B-list festivals this fall, to uniformly negative responses ("disappointing," "poorly edited," "a stinker").
"I am stunned," Sprecher said. "The fact that my name must remain on the finished work, due to the contract I signed, is only a part of the reason. I was ultimately never able to hear the distributor's notes, and thus could not address them." Sprecher was so far out of the loop that she learned her film's new title on the Internet.
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