Julien Dubuque Film Festival / iTunes 2019 – LADDIE: The Man Behind the Movies
A documentary about one daughter's journey to discover her father, Alan Ladd, Jr., the Oscar-winning producer and studio chief behind Star Wars and 163 other films.
Interview with Director Amanda Ladd-Jones
Watch LADDIE: The Man Behind the Movies on Vudu, iTunes and Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
As a kid, I didn't see that much of my dad. I knew he worked in the movie business but I didn't know exactly what he was doing, and I certainly didn't appreciate its significance. It wasn't until I became an adult, pursuing my own career in film, that I began to understand how unique he was and how his contributions had shaped the last fifty years of American cinema. Making this film gave me the chance to find out what he was so busy doing all those years when he wasn't with me, and gave me the ability to tell the world a story about this man, they've probably never even heard of, who likely impacted their lives in one way or another. We need more stories about powerful men like him who made brave choices, supported filmmakers and gave opportunities to women both on and off camera.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film because it is entertaining, inspiring, heartfelt and surprisingly relatable.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
This movie is especially personal because it is a film about one daughter's journey to understand her father the prominent film executive and producer behind some of American cinemas most iconic films. Among other things the film discusses women in film, supporting artists and family dynamics.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The film is deeply personal and self-funded took ten years to make. While it evolved significantly over that time, it never deviated from its thematic core which was one daughter's quest to learn about her father.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
99% positive. Thankfully.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Surprised me in that I didn't think anyone would care about the personal side of it, yet that seems to be what resonates the most. Even die-hard Star Wars fans. More often than not people want to share how it touched them on a personal level. That is something I couldn't have imagined and am truly humbled by.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would like my film to have more exposure to and among like-minded filmmakers.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
buyers/journalists/festival directors
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope this film: inspires people, makes them think, propels them to do something they were afraid of, reach out to a parent, child or loved one, mend a bridge that's bent or broken, makes them laugh, makes them cry… all while entertaining them.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Has gender equality gotten better or worse since Laddie's days at Fox and MGM /UA?
Could someone like Laddie exist in today's corporate studio structure?
Why don't we have more films about women, starring women when they have proven to be successful time and time again?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
AMANDA LADD-JONES is currently developing a docu-series and writing for television.
RICH BUHRMAN is currently producing a show for A&E.
KATHERINE GRIFFIN is currently writing a screenplay for director Alfonso Arau, editing a new hip hip competition for Netflix, and finishing a short film she shot last summer in Paris.
CHIP MAURO is currently editing various projects for both film and television.
Interview: May 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
LADDIE: The Man Behind the Movies
A documentary about one daughter's journey to discover her father, Alan Ladd, Jr., the Oscar-winning producer and studio chief behind Star Wars and 163 other films.
Director: Amanda Ladd-Jones
Producer: Rich Buhrman, Natasha Klibansky, Katherine Griffin, Chip Mauro
About the writer, director and producer:
AMANDA LADD-JONES is an American screenwriter, director and producer, whose new film, Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies will be released this year. “This is a film that every aspiring filmmaker, movie lover and – perhaps most importantly, fan – needs to see,” writes Taylor Leigh, one of the many journalists who sang the praises of the film after viewing it at a festival.
Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies is a look into the hidden world of one of Hollywood’s most influential behind-the-scenes players. Alan Ladd, Jr., or “Laddie” as he was known throughout his brilliant career as one of the most important studio heads of the ‘70s and ‘80s, was a champion of visionary filmmakers, a proponent of hiring women in all positions, including as some of his top executives, and he also happens to have greenlit a little movie called Star Wars. In lovingly and honestly making this film about her father, “Alan Ladd Jr.’s daughter has created a warm, personal and entertaining tribute to her father and his remarkable Hollywood career.” -- Leonard Maltin.
Amanda Ladd-Jones began her film education in early childhood, sitting on the floor of her father’s screening room while he ran movies for Hollywood’s most accomplished filmmakers. When it came time for Ladd-Jones to begin her own career, she was determined to make her way without riding the coattails of her movie star grandfather, Alan Ladd, or her executive/producer father., Laddie. Fresh out of college, Amanda Ladd moved to New York City and, with no mention to anyone of her connection to the family, began her work in film in the accounting department. She worked her way up on such films as Conspiracy Theory, Sweet and Lowdown, and Finding Forrester, eventually becoming highly coveted as a Production Accountant.
While Amanda has a head for figures and an innate understanding of production budgeting and politics, her true calling has always been one of a natural born storyteller. So while she earned a living mastering the production side of the business, she continued working diligently on her skills as a writer. A graduate of UCLA’s accredited screenwriting program, Ladd-Jones has had optioned several feature-length screenplays optioned, and is currently working as a writer for television. She lives in Silver Lake with her husband, her daughter (her inspiration for making the film “Laddie”), their dog Rigby and their three cats: Bean, Taco, and Zelda.
RICH BUHRMAN Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer Rich Buhrman began his production career in New York City after graduating college, working on TV programs including The Montel Williams Show, It’s Showtime at The Apollo, and Disney’s Bear in the Big Blue House. Chasing his Hollywood dreams, Rich packed his life in his car in 1998 and headed West. He found great success in Los Angeles, hired on projects for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MTV, VH1, FUSE, BRAVO, OXYGEN, and IFC. In 2004, Rich joined TV production company Magical Elves, most famous for mega-hits Project Runway and Top Chef. Named Executive Vice President of Production and CFO for Magical Elves, Rich also served as Co-Executive Producer on Project Greenlight, Project Runway, Top Chef, Treasure Hunters and several others. After leaving Magical Elves Rich founded Beach Cruiser Productions, a production company focused on developing and producing documentary, variety, talk and reality projects.
NATASHA KLIBANSKY ’s career in film and TV development and production has spanned a broad spectrum of genres over more than a decade and allowed her to work closely with some of today’s biggest names in acting, writing, directing and producing. Formerly Vice President of Development at Alan Ladd Jr.’s Ladd Company, she has come to realize that the story-shaping, critical-thinking, fire-extinguishing business of producing is her passion. Natasha began her career at TV’s SPIN CITY and Michael J. Fox’s Lottery Hill Entertainment in New York. Fox then hired Natasha as his assistant, where she continued as he launched his Parkinson’s foundation and started his memoir, Lucky Man. A position with Reese Witherspoon led Natasha to Los Angeles in 2002, before she joined Oscar-Winning Producer Douglas Wick at his Sony-based Red Wagon Entertainment. There, Natasha was immersed in Wick’s diverse 40-plus-project development slate and all phases of production of five films in under three years: Peter Pan, Tad Hamilton, Bewitched, Jarhead, and Memoirs of a Geisha. Before accepting the position with Ladd, Natasha worked creatively with House of Sand and Fog writer/director Vadim Perelman as he executed a page-one script rewrite of The Giver novel. Natasha graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications with a B.S. in Journalism. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and two children.
KATHERINE GRIFFIN is an Emmy Award-winning Editor and Writer-Director-Producer from Bloomington, Indiana. Just after college, Katherine wrote her first feature film, The Innocents, and then moved into her car for nearly a year to produce and direct it. The Innocents traveled to seventeen film festivals, winning three awards, and was subsequently listed as one of the twenty best dramas in Phil Hall's 'Encyclopedia of Underground Movies: Films from the Fringes of Cinema', and her spirited adventure making the film was profiled in the Los Angeles Times. She’s worked consistently as a documentary and reality television editor for the last ten years while making independent films and continuing her screenwriting education at UCLA. She’s won an Emmy for editing Top Chef, and her screenplays have been selected for the CineStory Fellowship and finalists in the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, Zoetrope Screenplay Competition, Fade In, and Tracking Board Screenplay Competition. She was recently selected for the on-camera Showrunner’s Masterclass with Shonda Rhimes. Her passion is to create and tell stories with complex characters, and she hopes to spend an entire lifetime working in this incredible industry.
Editor CHIP MAURO first discovered his talent for storytelling at age 10, documenting his decade-long music career as the drummer of a nationally touring rock band. Hooked on the exacting process of editing, Chip focused on TV, Film and Radio ultimately earning a BA degree at the University of Wisconsin, packed his bags for Los Angeles, and never looked back. Fast forward ten years, and Chip’s documentary work includes Emmy-nominated California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown, featuring a Who’s Who of political figures including former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and current California Governor, Jerry Brown. Chip recently completed the Discovery Channel’s The Woman who Wasn’t There, the riveting story of a woman who gained celebrity status for her harrowing survival of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks...but was later found to have fabricated the tale. In 2004, Chip founded TVMJ Productions, specializing in editorial post-production with additional services including branding, identity, website design, animation, motion graphics, film, and commercial production.
Looking for: journalists
Facebook: LADDIE: THE MAN BEHIND THE MOVIES
Twitter: @laddiemovie
Instagram: @laddiemovie
Hashtags used: #laddiemovie #alanladdjr #laddie #film #starwars
Website: laddiemovie.com
Funders: self-funded, Kickstarter
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Julian Dubuque Film Festival, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Prime Video