PTA Interviews (on YouTube or otherwise)

[wilberfan]

WHYY's "FRESH AIR with Terry Gross" has apparently made their entire archive available online.   I have created a playlist that contains most of the PTA-related content.    (7.5 hours of content in this playlist alone.)

https://freshairarchive.org/playlist/1236

[ForTheHungryBoy]

WHYY's "FRESH AIR with Terry Gross" has apparently made their entire archive available online.   I have created a playlist that contains most of the PTA-related content.    (7.5 hours of content in this playlist alone.)

https://freshairarchive.org/playlist/1236

Thank you! Started listening to the TWBB talk with Paul and Terry. Paul sounds super mannerly and calm lol

[Robyn]

This just got uploaded:

[wilberfan]

Love the modesty grimace from Paul at the end...

[Yes]

This just got uploaded:

YES!! Finally. After years, it's available

[wilberfan]

A Life In Hollywood with George Stevens Jr. and Paul Thomas Anderson

https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/a-life-in-hollywood-with-george-stevens-jr-and-paul-thomas-anderson-ep-365

[DickHardwood2022]

A Life In Hollywood with George Stevens Jr. and Paul Thomas Anderson

https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/a-life-in-hollywood-with-george-stevens-jr-and-paul-thomas-anderson-ep-365

Thanks for posting that was a very interesting discussion between the two of them.

[wilberfan]

I just finished listening to the interview.  Fascinating, indeed. I'm adding the book to my list.

Of particular interest to Stalker/Location Nerd Boy, here, was Paul's mention that he owns the house that Curtis Hanson grew up in.  Curtis' dad Wilbur was a teacher/mentor to George Stevens, Jr--and finished his career in education teaching at Portola Jr. High--where Paul first encountered the real-life scene of a young high school kid hitting on the older female photographer's asst on Photo Day.  (Those scenes in LP were also filmed at Portola.)

Paul bought the home from Wilbur's widow Beverly--who lived until 2019, dying at the age of nearly 98. 

Wilbur, Beverly and Curtis are all buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery--where I'm sure some of Curtis' films have been screened.

Also noteworthy to me was Stevens having helped found the American Film Institute--whose L.A. headquarters was the old Doheny Mansion (and on whose grounds I used to go to study for finals in college, circa '73/'74) and whose screening room was the old bowling alley.

We know who restored that bowling alley and fulfilled the Prophecy of Blood (and milkshake) for the camera in 2006...

[wilberfan]

Paul Thomas Anderson Moderates Q&A for Oscar-Shortlisted Doc 'Retrograde,' Hailing It as "a Great Film" (Exclusive Video)

[Drill]

This is run through Google translate. Maybe someone can provide a better translation.

https://www.correio24horas.com.br/MinhaBahia/40+/paul-thomas-anderson-anunciou-filme-em-salvador-com-direito-a-capoeira-e-john-malkovich-1023

When Paul Thomas Anderson discovered that Brazilian lands were fertile and verdant, he wrote a draft script about the saga of "a thief who, after pulling off a super scam, decides to kill his two accomplices to keep all the money." This was the starting point of the film that the Californian director, then 23 years old, said he would shoot in Salvador. The revelation was made in an exclusive interview with reporter Neyse Cunha Lima, published in this CORREIO on September 6, 1993.

Yes, exactly three decades ago, one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, today with 11 Oscar nominations under his belt, fell in love on Terça da Bênção, in Pelourinho, fell in love with capoeira, with the city, and guaranteed that he would return to film this plot. , which would develop as follows: "One of the guys, in fact, didn't die and, to get revenge, he lures the traitor to Salvador, for a fight to the death. The fight, of course, is capoeira from Angola, preferably in slow motion, according to Paul", wrote the reporter about the description, already with technical details, made by Paul Anderson, after a chat at the Victoria Marina hotel, in Vitória. .

Smoking Hollywood and drinking hot coffee, PTA had been in the Bahian capital for almost a week, where he disembarked to take part in an exhibition of American short films at Sala Walter da Silveira. To match the scene recorded by the reporter, his short film was 'Cigarrettes & Coffee', a film that would give rise to his first acclaimed feature, 'Jogada de Risco', released three years later.

The work had a great cast, with names like Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Gwyneth Paltrow, but the cast that PTA would cast for Bahia would not be lacking in anything. "As he always does when starting a script, the director has already thought about who he would call for the main roles: John Malkovich, the unforgettable Viscount de Valmont, from Dangerous Liaisons, and Gary Oldman, Coppola's Dracula. We have to wait and see", wrote Neyse, who is still waiting today.

In fact, he doesn't even expect it, because he barely remembers that day, and he didn't even know that the ambitious Paul Anderson had thrown Thomas into the mix and became the director of classics like 'There Will Be Blood', 'Magnolia' and 'Boogie Nights'. "Cool! I didn't remember that subject. And to tell the truth, I still don't remember", admitted Neyse, who has lived in Barcelona, ��Spain, since 2004.

"I remembered that I had interviewed a kid who got the money for his project playing in Las Vegas, but not that he was a filmmaker, much less that he was a PTA. The only thing I remember besides the data is that he was very friendly and lively", he recalls about the now fifty-year-old who, last year, was nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film at the Oscars, with 'Licorice Pizza'.

Charge

PTA's return to film in Bahia would not be any big news for Pelô, after all, the historic site has always been a location for major productions: in the mid-70s, for example, three feature films based on Jorge Amado's books were being filmed at the at the same time, there, under the batons of Bruno Barreto ('Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'), Nelson Pereira dos Santos ('Tenda dos Milagres') and the Frenchman Marcel Camus ('Os Pastores da Noite'). There are even reports of confusion among the filming crews.

But, while Mr. Paulo doesn't come to fulfill his commitment to the city (just like Spike Lee, who 10 years ago filmed a documentary about Brazil, focusing on Bahia, and hasn't left yet), it's worth telling how Paulinho recounted his first steps as a filmmaker.

In the report entitled 'Filmmaker divided between films and gambling', Neyse reveals where the initial capital came from for PTA to make his first short, already establishing himself as one of the most promising directors of his generation.

"The US$13,000 in savings that the Anderson family had deposited in a California bank in 1992 had a more than defined destination: paying for their son Paul's first two years of college. However, things are not always as parents imagine, and one fine day little Paul suggested that they give him the money so that he could invest it all in his first film", begins the text.

"In addition to his nerve, Paul brought with him his own savings: a hard-earned US$2,000 plus the considerable sum of US$7,000 won on craps at a Las Vegas casino. And despite mommy's protests, daddy couldn't say no. The person telling this story is Paul Anderson himself, seated at one of the tables at the Victoria Marina, while sipping a cup of steaming black coffee and lighting a Hollywood cigarette", as I had already said.

The journalist also reports that the "thin 23-year-old boy, with prescription glasses and skater hair" is a "romantic gambling enthusiast", and that was also where his livelihood came from at the time, as he himself admitted.

"For about a year now, while waiting for the budget for 'Sydney' [another base for 'Risk Gambling'], he has been living exclusively off the casinos of Las Vegas and Reno, where he plays crabs regularly to maintain his single life in a apartment in Los Angeles. 'Betting is almost as intense a thrill as filming,' he says. The risk, however, appears to be calculated. 'You can't dribble your luck, but at least you can't be an idiot when you bet,'" revealed the gambler, whose main tactic was to bet little and only stay in the game while earning an average of US$35 per hour. "That's what you get in the best unskilled jobs and that's enough for me."

It's enough for us, Mr. Ghosting, that your ghost plot in Bahia becomes reality. By the way, I tried to collect the debt with PTA, but I couldn't even contact the agent. I'll keep trying, but if you find him drinking a little or smoking something out there, just refresh his memory.When Paul Thomas Anderson discovered that Brazilian lands were fertile and verdant, he wrote a draft script about the saga of "a thief who, after pulling off a super scam, decides to kill his two accomplices to keep all the money." This was the starting point of the film that the Californian director, then 23 years old, said he would shoot in Salvador. The revelation was made in an exclusive interview with reporter Neyse Cunha Lima, published in this CORREIO on September 6, 1993.

Yes, exactly three decades ago, one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, today with 11 Oscar nominations under his belt, fell in love on Terça da Bênção, in Pelourinho, fell in love with capoeira, with the city, and guaranteed that he would return to film this plot. , which would develop as follows: "One of the guys, in fact, didn't die and, to get revenge, he lures the traitor to Salvador, for a fight to the death. The fight, of course, is capoeira from Angola, preferably in slow motion, according to Paul", wrote the reporter about the description, already with technical details, made by Paul Anderson, after a chat at the Victoria Marina hotel, in Vitória. .

Smoking Hollywood and drinking hot coffee, PTA had been in the Bahian capital for almost a week, where he disembarked to take part in an exhibition of American short films at Sala Walter da Silveira. To match the scene recorded by the reporter, his short film was 'Cigarrettes & Coffee', a film that would give rise to his first acclaimed feature, 'Jogada de Risco', released three years later.

The work had a great cast, with names like Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Gwyneth Paltrow, but the cast that PTA would cast for Bahia would not be lacking in anything. "As he always does when starting a script, the director has already thought about who he would call for the main roles: John Malkovich, the unforgettable Viscount de Valmont, from Dangerous Liaisons, and Gary Oldman, Coppola's Dracula. We have to wait and see", wrote Neyse, who is still waiting today.

In fact, he doesn't even expect it, because he barely remembers that day, and he didn't even know that the ambitious Paul Anderson had thrown Thomas into the mix and became the director of classics like 'There Will Be Blood', 'Magnolia' and 'Boogie Nights'. "Cool! I didn't remember that subject. And to tell the truth, I still don't remember", admitted Neyse, who has lived in Barcelona, ��Spain, since 2004.

"I remembered that I had interviewed a kid who got the money for his project playing in Las Vegas, but not that he was a filmmaker, much less that he was a PTA. The only thing I remember besides the data is that he was very friendly and lively", he recalls about the now fifty-year-old who, last year, was nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film at the Oscars, with 'Licorice Pizza'.

Charge

PTA's return to film in Bahia would not be any big news for Pelô, after all, the historic site has always been a location for major productions: in the mid-70s, for example, three feature films based on Jorge Amado's books were being filmed at the at the same time, there, under the batons of Bruno Barreto ('Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'), Nelson Pereira dos Santos ('Tenda dos Milagres') and the Frenchman Marcel Camus ('Os Pastores da Noite'). There are even reports of confusion among the filming crews.

But, while Mr. Paulo doesn't come to fulfill his commitment to the city (just like Spike Lee, who 10 years ago filmed a documentary about Brazil, focusing on Bahia, and hasn't left yet), it's worth telling how Paulinho recounted his first steps as a filmmaker.

In the report entitled 'Filmmaker divided between films and gambling', Neyse reveals where the initial capital came from for PTA to make his first short, already establishing himself as one of the most promising directors of his generation.

"The US$13,000 in savings that the Anderson family had deposited in a California bank in 1992 had a more than defined destination: paying for their son Paul's first two years of college. However, things are not always as parents imagine, and one fine day little Paul suggested that they give him the money so that he could invest it all in his first film", begins the text.

"In addition to his nerve, Paul brought with him his own savings: a hard-earned US$2,000 plus the considerable sum of US$7,000 won on craps at a Las Vegas casino. And despite mommy's protests, daddy couldn't say no. The person telling this story is Paul Anderson himself, seated at one of the tables at the Victoria Marina, while sipping a cup of steaming black coffee and lighting a Hollywood cigarette", as I had already said.

The journalist also reports that the "thin 23-year-old boy, with prescription glasses and skater hair" is a "romantic gambling enthusiast", and that was also where his livelihood came from at the time, as he himself admitted.

"For about a year now, while waiting for the budget for 'Sydney' [another base for 'Risk Gambling'], he has been living exclusively off the casinos of Las Vegas and Reno, where he plays crabs regularly to maintain his single life in a apartment in Los Angeles. 'Betting is almost as intense a thrill as filming,' he says. The risk, however, appears to be calculated. 'You can't dribble your luck, but at least you can't be an idiot when you bet,'" revealed the gambler, whose main tactic was to bet little and only stay in the game while earning an average of US$35 per hour. "That's what you get in the best unskilled jobs and that's enough for me."

It's enough for us, Mr. Ghosting, that your ghost plot in Bahia becomes reality. By the way, I tried to collect the debt with PTA, but I couldn't even contact the agent. I'll keep trying, but if you find him drinking a little or smoking something out there, just refresh his memory.

Paul Thomas Anderson in Salvador, in September 1993, when he participated in an exhibition of American short films at Sala Walter da Silveira. He was 23 years old.

[Alethia]

Wow. Made an average of $35 an hour gambling every day - "That's what you get in the best unskilled jobs and that's enough for me." I'm 36 years old, and I'm a loser.

Cool article though! Sounds like an exciting life he led before the real excitement began.

[wilberfan]

Heather and Paul on working with Ricky Jay...

[Drill]