Interview with "Drive" Editor Mat Newman
Kyle had the honor of sitting down with Mat Newman, the acclaimed editor behind Nicolas Winding Refn's distinctive films, including "Drive," "Only God Forgives," "Bronson," and "Neon Demon." Their conversation delves into the unique visual and narrative style that Newman brings to Refn's projects, highlighting how his editing techniques create moments that resonate deeply with audiences. Mat shares insights into his unconventional career path, emphasizing the importance of trust and collaboration between director and editor in crafting a film's identity. The episode also touches on the evolving landscape of film editing, discussing the impact of technology and AI on the profession. Listeners will gain a deeper appreciation for the artistry of editing and the intricate process that shapes the films they love.
Kyle engages in a captivating dialogue with Mat Newman, the esteemed editor behind some of Nicolas Winding Refn's most iconic films, including "Drive" and "Only God Forgives." The conversation unfolds with Mat sharing his unconventional journey into the film industry, revealing how he navigated his way to becoming a sought-after editor without the traditional film school background. Mat's insights into the editing process highlight the collaborative nature of filmmaking, emphasizing the trust that develops between a director and an editor. He elaborates on his unique approach to editing, which is characterized by a focus on creating moments that resonate emotionally with audiences rather than adhering strictly to conventional editing techniques. This philosophy is particularly evident in Refn's films, which often blend stunning visuals with a slower narrative pace, allowing viewers to absorb the atmosphere and character nuances. Kyle and Mat explore the distinctive visual style of Refn's films, discussing the bold color choices and the significance of silence and breathing space in the storytelling. They delve into the technical aspects of editing and color grading, discussing how these elements contribute to the overall mood and tone of the films. The episode is a deep dive into the art of editing, shedding light on the creative decisions that shape cinematic experiences. Mat's reflections on his collaboration with Refn, alongside anecdotes from their projects, provide a rich understanding of the filmmaking process and the artistry involved in editing.
The discussion shifts to the evolution of the film industry, touching on the impact of technology and the potential implications of AI in editing. Mat shares his perspective on the changing landscape, where budget constraints often lead to editors being sidelined after the offline cut, a departure from the traditional workflow where editors remain integral throughout the post-production process. He expresses concern over this trend, underscoring the importance of the editor's role in shaping the final product. The conversation culminates in a thoughtful examination of the current state of cinema, with both Mat and Kyle lamenting the prevalence of reboots and sequels in Hollywood, while highlighting the necessity for original storytelling and artistic experimentation. Through this engaging exchange, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the craft of editing and the pivotal role it plays in bringing stories to life on screen.
Takeaways:
- Mat Newman describes his unconventional journey into film editing, starting from answering phones.
- Newman emphasizes the importance of trust between an editor and director in filmmaking.
- The unique visual style of films like Drive stems from careful editing choices.
- Newman highlights the collaborative relationship he has with Nicolas Winding Refn over many films.
- The color grading in Drive is influenced by Refn's colorblindness, creating distinctive visuals.
- Newman reflects on how editing styles can evolve based on the director's vision.
Transcript
Foreign.
Host:Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Movie wars podcast.
Host:So excited to kick off a new year of interviews for the movies that we cover.
Host:And I'm so honored to have our guest today, Matt Newman.
Host:How you doing?
Matt Newman:Very well, thank you.
Matt Newman:Nice to meet you.
Host:Yeah.
Host:So glad to have you here.
Host:And just I want you to go into your career, but, you know, we covered Drive and.
Host:And I wanted to talk to some folks that were involved, and I was really just honored that you joined the show.
Host:And just so the audience knows, you know, Matt's.
Host:He's partnered with Nicholas Winding Refn on a lot of the.
Host:The films that you may know.
Host:But two of those specifically are in my top 50 films of all time.
Host:Bronson and Drive, but also Valhalla Rising, Neon Demon, Only God Forgives.
Host:And, you know, I was just.
Host:Just enamored by just the process on these films that gives them a very unique visual presentation, but also the cadences of the editing.
Host:And so it's really cool to have you here, talk about that stuff today.
Host:But before we get into Drive and some other things, you want to talk about kind of where you started in your career and how you got to where you are today.
Matt Newman:Well, the short story is I kind of got here at the beginning by blagging it.
Matt Newman:So I was never a.
Matt Newman:I don't know if you Americans use that word to blag, what that is.
Host:I'd like to.
Host:I'd like to.
Host:Does that mean, like, you were kind of bluffing?
Matt Newman:Bluffing?
Matt Newman:Make it till you make it.
Host:Okay.
Matt Newman:So I didn't go to film school.
Matt Newman:I didn't have anyone in the family that's in the business.
Matt Newman:I just sort of started, like, a lot of people in answering telephones for people in a production office and, you know, changing toilet rolls and getting screamed at by people that were a lot busier than I was.
Matt Newman:And I learned.
Matt Newman:I always loved editing and I learned.
Matt Newman:Or the idea of it, and I learned it at the time by sort of breaking into the avid that one of the producers had that I was working for.
Matt Newman:And I just sort of taught it myself.
Matt Newman:In the evenings, they had.
Matt Newman:They had a film in there.
Matt Newman:And this is back when this stuff cost a fortune.
Matt Newman:Now you just download it.
Matt Newman:But then you needed a lot of money to have the hardware and all those things.
Matt Newman:So I kind of taught myself in the evenings.
Matt Newman:I used the instruction manuals.
Matt Newman:And then I kind of just started telling people I was an editor.
Matt Newman:So I never did the path where you like in America.
Matt Newman:It's very regimented.
Matt Newman:Also in England, there's a.
Matt Newman:You know, you have an apprenticeship and you're an assistant or a.
Matt Newman:And then a first.
Matt Newman:Second assistant and a first assistant.
Matt Newman:And then maybe eventually someone says, do you want to cut scene?
Matt Newman:I was just like, no, I'm an editor and just try to get jobs.
Matt Newman:And yeah, I mean, there were some disasters along the way, but it worked out in the end.
Matt Newman:But, yeah, that's the short version that.
Host:Makes it all the more incredible, you know, because I.
Host:Like I said my email to you have such a distinct, you know, some of the pairings that we've talked about with, you know, Tarantino and Miller, these folks that have really intense relationships with their editors or frequent collaborators.
Host:I would say that you've established a pretty unique signature style for.
Host:For having, you know, no upbringing in the.
Host:In the system.
Host:And that's.
Host:That makes it even more incredible.
Host:That's pretty cool.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:I mean, it's fortuitous because Nick was the first director I ever worked with.
Matt Newman:I never made a film until I met him.
Matt Newman:So it's.
Matt Newman:Until then, what I had done is I had friends who were producers and I would recut things for people.
Matt Newman:So if they had a problem or a show was just a bit messy called me, and I would do a week and straighten it out for them.
Matt Newman:But you kind of.
Matt Newman:It's a bit anonymous.
Matt Newman:You don't really bring anything creative.
Matt Newman:It's more just making things smoother and fixing things.
Matt Newman:But those people liked what I'd done, and then they hired Nick to do a TV show and his editor couldn't travel, and so they just plugged me in.
Matt Newman:So he was literally the first director I ever like, was just like, hi, what's your favorite movie?
Matt Newman:And he'd already made like four or five films by then.
Matt Newman:So, you know, while I was in a production office somewhere, like, changing toilet rolls for the producer, he'd actually made a film.
Matt Newman:So he was like.
Matt Newman:He got started very young.
Matt Newman:I think his first film, he was 24, 25, and it was a success.
Matt Newman:So you can imagine, you know, how awful he was because he got everything very fast.
Host:Was this after Pusher, the Pusher trilogy and Fear X?
Host:Was that the timing of this?
Matt Newman:Yeah, I met him on.
Matt Newman:We still laugh about it.
Matt Newman:He was, like, on a big downslope.
Matt Newman:He was completely bust.
Matt Newman:He was in debt for millions because he lost his own money on Fex and he was just looking for a job.
Matt Newman:And it just so happened that the guy who gave him a job, which was a British television producer called Matthew Reed, who's An old friend of mine was my friend.
Matt Newman:So he said, oh, if you need an editor, does this.
Matt Newman:There's this guy who's, I promise you, is actually an editor, even though I couldn't show him anything.
Matt Newman:So, yeah, he was just like.
Matt Newman:He's just like, fine.
Matt Newman:You know, let's see if, if you're no good, we'll just get someone else.
Host:And fast forward to today.
Host:I mean, wow.
Host:I mean that's, that's just wild considering, you know, the films that you've been making since and the notoriety that happened around Drive.
Host:I know that was also a little bit of a surprise, not just for your team, but the, the financiers who wanted to take their name off the film.
Host:And then once it was a success, they were like, can we add our name back to the film?
Host:I mean, what a.
Host:What a trip.
Host:Right?
Matt Newman:Yeah, we went back into the DI for that.
Matt Newman:Oh, but it's like I had to earn it.
Matt Newman:At the beginning.
Matt Newman:He was, it was one and done.
Matt Newman:He was like, you know, thank you very much.
Matt Newman:And he went back to Denmark because he had an editor there, like a really lovely lady who's also, you know, a big editor in Denmark.
Matt Newman:And she, she, when he did Bronson, she couldn't travel.
Matt Newman:She had small kids at the time.
Matt Newman:And he was shooting it in London for, I think he had £700,000 is like no money and a four week schedule.
Matt Newman:And the producers were like, if you fly yourself.
Matt Newman:I was living in Berlin.
Matt Newman:If you fly yourself into to London, so you pay your own flights and we'll pay you X.
Matt Newman:Which was literally like nothing you can cut.
Matt Newman:You can cut the film.
Matt Newman:And it was like, well, you're literally only editor that I know in London, so.
Host:Wow.
Matt Newman:Again, it was like he wanted to bring Anne, who was his editor, and it was like she just wouldn't do it and they couldn't afford to fly her in and put her up and all the nice things that she's used to because she was experienced and I was just, you know, cheap and available.
Host:Wow.
Host:So providential.
Host:And now like you're somehow linked to the emergence of Tom Hardy, who is, you know, at the time that was kind of.
Host:He had been in films, but now you're involved in his big coming out party and now is one of our finest actors.
Matt Newman:So, yeah, not that he thanked us for it, ever.
Host:Thanks for paying for your own ticket.
Matt Newman:Yeah, awesome, Tom.
Matt Newman:But no, I mean, he was already involved, I think by the time I showed up.
Matt Newman:But yeah, he was also on the rebound.
Matt Newman:I Think he'd gone to America already and had a very bad experience.
Matt Newman:I think he did.
Matt Newman:He played the bad guy in a Star Wars.
Matt Newman:Not Star Wars, See the one.
Matt Newman:Star Trek.
Matt Newman:And it hadn't worked for him.
Matt Newman:And.
Matt Newman:And then he was doing our film, which was literally just no money.
Matt Newman:Yeah, but it was Nick.
Matt Newman:And Nick's crazy.
Matt Newman:And Tom also, as you can imagine, is not afraid of going right out over the edge.
Matt Newman:And so together they came up.
Matt Newman:It was kind of like a concept movie.
Matt Newman:You know, there was no particular story.
Matt Newman:It's just everything was about Tom.
Matt Newman:I think he's in every single scene.
Host:Yeah, the one man show nature of it, those one man show scenes are so visually striking, you know, and you don't watch it and think there's no money because you're just like.
Host:You're almost taken aback.
Host:Like, the reason I would talk about how much I love Bronson is it was very disruptive to me.
Host:Like, I didn't know what to expect.
Host:I, I had kind of worked backwards after drive and that's when, you know, I started working through Nick and Tom's, you know, their oeuvres simultaneously.
Host:So then it took me automatically just quickly back to Bronson and I was just like, whoa.
Host:Like, it was one of those shocking but in a good way things.
Host:I'm like, what am I seeing?
Host:And yeah, I'm not even thinking about the budget because I'm just.
Host:It's a visual feast, right?
Matt Newman:No, it was very.
Matt Newman:And he, he, he hired a guy called Larry Smith to shoot.
Matt Newman:Larry Smith was like Stanley Kubrick's lighting Cameraman for like 15 years, 20 years.
Matt Newman:So very fast.
Matt Newman:Yeah, Larry didn't mess about and he knew how to do things efficiently and, and was, you know, they filmed it in a really interesting way.
Matt Newman:It was all low angles, wide angle lens.
Matt Newman:It's actually very simply done.
Matt Newman:There's like no coverage as I remember, because they didn't have any money.
Matt Newman:And it was on 16 millimeter.
Matt Newman:So the whole thing was like cheap as peanuts.
Matt Newman:But that's crazy.
Matt Newman:They were able to do, you know, to.
Matt Newman:It started out, I remember as being a bit of a sort of Essex boys, very straightforward.
Matt Newman:And Nick turned it inside out.
Matt Newman:And a lot of the crew that were more used to making straight, they thought it was going to be this kind of goodfellas style gangster biography because he's kind of a gangster figure sort of adjacent, this, this real character.
Matt Newman:And when Nick started putting him in makeup and having him jump around, do it, they were like this.
Matt Newman:We didn't sign up for this.
Matt Newman:What the hell are you doing?
Matt Newman:It was.
Host:I'm sensing a theme there with Nick.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Host:Yeah.
Matt Newman:And then.
Matt Newman:Oh, he did.
Matt Newman:He had.
Matt Newman:I can't even tell you what.
Matt Newman:Didn't make it into the film because he did some stuff that was really.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:And we thought, okay, that's maybe a bridge too far.
Matt Newman:But now they just.
Matt Newman:They just did whatever.
Matt Newman:They really made it up on the day.
Matt Newman:A lot of it.
Matt Newman:It's just like, what would be fun to do today?
Host:I love those stories.
Host:That's amazing.
Host:So, you know, some of the questions we have, or.
Host:Because we're covering drive, you know, they're more focused on drive.
Host:But there's also some broad ones about just the.
Host:The field of editing.
Host:So let's just get started with.
Host:I would.
Host:I'd love for you.
Host:I don't want to steal the thunder here because the story is so cool, but let's talk about the color grading process, because it's, you know, it's.
Host:It's maybe widely known amongst REFN fans that he's colorblind.
Host:But, you know, when you talk to the broader cinematic fan base, they don't necessarily know, but they know they like the color grading and drive, that it's very unique.
Host:Like, they always.
Host:When you talk to kind of a general movie fan, like, the colors were just so wild.
Host:But there's a reason for that.
Matt Newman:Is it?
Matt Newman:I honestly don't understand that.
Matt Newman:I don't see it as being the.
Matt Newman:I mean, I take your word for it, but I don't see it as being particularly like, what is it to you that makes it stand out?
Matt Newman:Like, in terms of its atmosphere, its color?
Host:To me, there's a couple scenes that stick out.
Host:The beautiful saturation because LA is illuminated already.
Host:You know what I'm saying?
Host:It's already so much color.
Host:But the elevator scene is one.
Host:And the scene.
Host:It's actually during the intro credits when.
Host:When driver's walking into his apartment, and the apartment is dark, but the illumination behind him is so.
Host:I would say sunlight orange.
Host:Right.
Host:Like, it feels like he's walking out of the sun into his dark.
Host:And that's a small moment.
Host:But the elevator, like, the.
Host:The lights.
Host:All of a sudden, it's like there's darkness outside of the elevator, but the shot is so, like, deep orange.
Host:And then the pink hues of the text and the pink hues of.
Host:You know, that kind of come through when he's driving.
Host:You can see those pinks kind of coming through, and those are the ones that.
Host:That me and a lot of People notice.
Host:It's like you just don't notice pinks and bright oranges that often.
Host:It just doesn't.
Matt Newman:Yeah, yeah.
Matt Newman:Pink at the time was.
Matt Newman:But I think we just took that from Risky Business because we'd watched that and.
Matt Newman:And they had a similar thing that it was.
Matt Newman:That had a very.
Matt Newman:It was very feminine.
Matt Newman:And that was always.
Matt Newman:The thing that Nick wanted to do is originally quite a macho script.
Matt Newman:It was.
Matt Newman:It was very macho.
Matt Newman:It was like she was a Latina and he's this kind of hot guy.
Matt Newman:So a lot of sex in it.
Matt Newman:And what Nick did, and he did it with Ryan Gosling was they.
Matt Newman:They really made him.
Matt Newman:They sort of feminized him a little bit.
Matt Newman:He's sort of soft.
Matt Newman:He turns out to be a psycho, but at the beginning, it's soft.
Matt Newman:There's a softness around him, and he's.
Matt Newman:He's like a romantic figure.
Matt Newman:He's not Matt.
Matt Newman:He's not a tough.
Matt Newman:He's a tough guy, but he's.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:Does this feminine thing.
Matt Newman:So it was like pink.
Matt Newman:It just felt like, you know, it fit.
Matt Newman:It made it immediately just look different.
Matt Newman:It's this guy in a car who could be Steve McQueen, but he's got a pink font.
Matt Newman:Just made it different.
Host:Yeah.
Host:And I think Cliff's score pairs with it.
Host:It's one of those instances where what you're seeing and what you're hearing are correlated.
Host:You know what I mean?
Host:It's like sometimes you just have music and you have the screen and you're like.
Host:You're just kind of enjoying.
Host:You know, Martin Scorsese loves needle drops.
Host:But this was an instance where it felt like maybe.
Host:Maybe you're right.
Host:Maybe the color grading wasn't that intense.
Host:But when you add that score, they're working together.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:It's all those things.
Matt Newman:And I'll tell you a story about the mix, because Cliff's music came in very late.
Matt Newman:I know he talked about that on his.
Matt Newman:On the thing, but he really was giving it at the last minute.
Matt Newman:And that was brilliant casting.
Matt Newman:Like, somebody was like, oh, the only guy that can do this is Cliff Martinez.
Matt Newman:And he happened to be available.
Matt Newman:We were just like, oh, great.
Matt Newman:And then Nick met him.
Matt Newman:They liked each other, and he just.
Matt Newman:I think he did it in three weeks, but we hadn't heard it.
Matt Newman:We just heard little things.
Matt Newman:He'd send it, and then we just approve it because there was no time.
Matt Newman:And then we got on the mix stage, and then the film changed.
Matt Newman:It just started to float.
Matt Newman:And I remember Being in the mix stage and going, oh, wow, this is getting really good.
Matt Newman:And it was the music.
Matt Newman:So all of the things that were already in it just suddenly knitted together and the film just took off.
Matt Newman:I remember that feeling that the film was floating.
Matt Newman:And I think that's Cliff's score.
Matt Newman:Is it really?
Matt Newman:Just suddenly.
Matt Newman:He tied together all of the pop tunes that we had put in.
Matt Newman:He used those as a starting point.
Matt Newman:And it all just started to.
Matt Newman:Yeah, he threaded everything.
Matt Newman:All the different elements got threaded in his score, I think.
Host:And it's just perfect.
Host:It is such a strange perfection, you know, just a.
Host:Almost like an orchestral.
Host:Between the visuals and that music, it's just almost like a perfect orchestral arrangement that just like, just lifts it, you know, it just lifts it in a crazy way.
Matt Newman:Yeah, I agree.
Matt Newman:And after that, you know, grabbed all of Cliff with both hands.
Matt Newman:He was like, where did you get like.
Matt Newman:You're like a ufo.
Matt Newman:This is amazing.
Host:Yeah, yeah.
Host:And then you did.
Host:Then you.
Host:You both.
Host:And then right after.
Host:Not to get pigeonholed on Only God Forgives, but then you repeated that again.
Host:And he did Neon Demon as well, too, right?
Matt Newman:He did, yeah.
Matt Newman:And I love the score he did for that.
Matt Newman:It's a really good score.
Matt Newman:It's very difficult to know what to do for that film.
Matt Newman:And he solved it.
Matt Newman:I think it's really great what he did.
Matt Newman:So now Eclipse is.
Matt Newman:He's amazing.
Host:It's incredible.
Host:So going back to the color grading, so you're.
Host:You're actively.
Host:You partner.
Host:So you were on set with Nick, right.
Host:And you were.
Host:For certain scenes, you were kind of consulting him on what.
Host:On what color grades would.
Matt Newman:Okay, no, no, no, no, no.
Matt Newman:We never do that.
Matt Newman:And it's.
Matt Newman:And that film was shot by Thomas Siegel.
Matt Newman:Siegel.
Matt Newman:And he had a very specific idea of what he was going to do.
Matt Newman:And at the time, it was.
Matt Newman:They were super into.
Matt Newman:Instagram, had just come out, and there was this other photo app, and they had this sort of degraded, faded look.
Matt Newman:So the idea was the movie was going to get this, like, old kind of grotty film look put on top of it.
Matt Newman:And we tried it in the grading, and it didn't.
Matt Newman:It didn't look as good as we hoped.
Matt Newman:Everyone was like, nice concept, but it made everything feel.
Matt Newman:It took a lot of the appeal of it away.
Matt Newman:It was a.
Matt Newman:It was very interesting, but the film just didn't feel like it's a sexy film, and it didn't feel.
Matt Newman:It suddenly felt kind of colorless, so we had to recolor it and it was very unexpected because it was done at the last minute.
Matt Newman:It was.
Matt Newman:The last thing that was done was two days color grading with a new guy who just came in and was like, bush.
Matt Newman:And we're all like, oh, that's fantastic.
Matt Newman:And Nick couldn't be there because we were mixing it at the same time.
Matt Newman:So I went in and supervised.
Matt Newman:What was the fellow's name?
Matt Newman:He's like a really big colorist now at Company 3 in LA.
Matt Newman:Really cool and super fast.
Matt Newman:And he just did the whole film in, like 10 hours.
Matt Newman:Wow.
Matt Newman:And then we showed it and we're like, oh, that looks great.
Matt Newman:That's fantastic.
Matt Newman:I think the only thing we had to spend a lot of time on was.
Matt Newman:And it's funny you mentioned it was the exact color of the.
Matt Newman:Because it had to be consistent through the whole film.
Matt Newman:Is that the way that sodium vapor lights look in Los Angeles?
Matt Newman:Because they can be like this.
Matt Newman:There's a way they can be like green, yellow, or like you can have this clean light.
Matt Newman:And we had to sort of.
Matt Newman:That all had to be very.
Matt Newman:And then it felt like la.
Matt Newman:When they're a certain color.
Matt Newman:David Finch's films have said he's very careful about how the street lights look because it's very particular to la.
Matt Newman:Yeah, we don't go on this.
Matt Newman:I don't go on the set.
Matt Newman:Most editors.
Host:Okay.
Matt Newman:I don't think.
Host:Okay.
Host:Because I.
Host:Maybe I was confused because there's something in the special features about describing to Nick what the color.
Host:What colors could look like and what lighting would look like on set.
Host:Maybe I just misinterpreted that because he does.
Host:He only.
Host:He sees really intense pinks.
Host:It sounds like those stimulate his eyes.
Host:But he doesn't know what greens and things look like.
Host:So it sounds like.
Host:I thought maybe someone had to describe to him what he would be seeing.
Host:You know, maybe try to describe that.
Host:Maybe I just misunderstood that in the features.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:I mean, he's all about color, but it's.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:I think one of the things that he has is he doesn't see contrast very well.
Matt Newman:So I think he sees the colors.
Matt Newman:But then I know when we've gone in grading rooms before, he's dialed the contrast up so much that it's ragged and it's like, oh, no, no, no, no.
Matt Newman:It has to come back.
Matt Newman:So I think what he.
Matt Newman:He sees things a lot softer and he wants to push it and push it and push it so that it's crisp.
Matt Newman:But you and I are getting this crispness much quicker.
Matt Newman:So I think it's more like this.
Matt Newman:But he's got to the point where he just trusts me now, so it's one less problem that he has to deal with.
Matt Newman:You see?
Host:That's awesome.
Matt Newman:He has enough.
Host:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Host:That's awesome.
Host:So one of the questions I had sent to you was, you know, we've been doing Movie wars for almost five years now.
Host:And, you know, I do probably 15, 20 hours of research per film because I'm.
Host:It's super enjoyable.
Host:And you start to see trends, right, in the movies.
Host:You.
Host:You study and, you know, some of the relationships I had sent you, editor, director, that were consistent collaborators.
Host:Tarantino, Minky, and then George Miller, Margaret Sixel, especially on Fury Road, just an intense partnership.
Host:You know, you have now done enough films where I would say you're a constant collaborator, especially because you started your career with Nick.
Host:What is it?
Host:What happens?
Host:Like what.
Host:What happens between a director and editor where they say, I want to work with you consistently?
Host:And what does that relationship look like?
Host:And how does it change over time?
Matt Newman:I think all of the.
Matt Newman:I mean, it's a really good question because it goes the same for every age.
Matt Newman:Like, every.
Matt Newman:Whether it's your DP or the editor or the production designer is those relationships are just all based on trust.
Matt Newman:Like that you're going to take a jump, and if the director runs out of ideas or doesn't know that you're going to fill in.
Matt Newman:It's like, it's a big.
Matt Newman:A lot of it's about having the same taste.
Matt Newman:It's not necessary, but it helps.
Matt Newman:But it's all about trust, and that is just earned.
Matt Newman:Like, you do something together and it works, and you go, oh, you really surprised me with this great thing.
Matt Newman:So I would say the first time I worked with him, I was just a guy who was there to just cut it for him and make sure I didn't get in his way and make sure he got it on time.
Matt Newman:It's like, be a pro the first time.
Matt Newman:And that was for TV show.
Matt Newman:So no one is going to lose money on it.
Matt Newman:When we did Bronson, that's going to the market.
Matt Newman:So now it's like, okay, you've got to bring something else.
Matt Newman:We have to make this special.
Matt Newman:So on that one, I just went to town and did stuff that I'd always wanted to try and experimented because I see he was experimenting.
Matt Newman:So he was like, okay, so you're at the same level of pleasing yourself that I am.
Matt Newman:That's what he's like.
Matt Newman:He's just in the business of pleasing himself and hoping that people like it.
Matt Newman:And I was doing the same thing with his material.
Matt Newman:Sometimes he'd be like, but wait.
Matt Newman:But mainly when you do that, you get a surprise, because I've seen it in a completely different way.
Matt Newman:And then so gradually you build up trust.
Matt Newman:And I think it was three films that I did with him because his other editor and was still supposed to do Valhalla Rising even after Bronson.
Matt Newman:He was like, bye, you know, thanks.
Host:Wow.
Matt Newman:And then he called me and he'd made four films with her and five.
Matt Newman:And then.
Matt Newman:But she.
Matt Newman:Again, she had.
Matt Newman:She was doing a very big film.
Matt Newman:A chill, a child.
Matt Newman:She had a family problem.
Matt Newman:And I went out there because they said, can you just give us some support?
Matt Newman:Because she's so busy.
Matt Newman:And I ended up finishing it because she said, I can't do it.
Matt Newman:I don't have the time, I don't have the energy.
Matt Newman:I can't do it for him, and I can't.
Matt Newman:It had a lot of material.
Matt Newman:So again, that one, I ended up.
Matt Newman:Basically, I was available and it was like, can you do it?
Matt Newman:Because I'm.
Matt Newman:Is just.
Matt Newman:She's just too busy.
Matt Newman:And he waited for.
Matt Newman:I think he waited like, four months, and she still couldn't do it.
Matt Newman:So I showed up and I was like, okay, let me sit down with it.
Matt Newman:He had, like, 200 hours of stuff that was shot in slow motion.
Matt Newman:And I was.
Matt Newman:I'd only done one film, so I was like, oh, yeah, sure, I can do this easy.
Host:Yeah, let's.
Host:By the way.
Host:By the way, we're going to do a huge red saturation scene at the end.
Host:That ending.
Host:Red scene when.
Host:When Mads is in the frame and it starts to shift to those super.
Host:I don't know if it's red or contrast, but that isn't.
Host:That's an intense.
Host:Yeah, I love the.
Host:That film, but that.
Host:That ending is like, whoa.
Host:That was wild.
Matt Newman:Yeah, there was a lot of whoa in that one.
Matt Newman:It was.
Matt Newman:It was.
Matt Newman:We had to invent a lot of things, but again, that was the one that sealed it because he had a very.
Matt Newman:He was going through a very hard time, personally, was Nick.
Matt Newman:He'd lost Ann, who was his.
Matt Newman:He was.
Matt Newman:Who had been on.
Matt Newman:That was supposed to.
Matt Newman:Her assistant had been on the movie the whole time.
Matt Newman:And now it was.
Matt Newman:It was me again.
Matt Newman:And he's like, well, okay.
Matt Newman:But he didn't.
Matt Newman:He didn't have time.
Matt Newman:And it was.
Matt Newman:The film was difficult, and it had been difficult to shoot.
Matt Newman:And so it Was difficult to solve, and it took a long time.
Matt Newman:When we got to the end of that one, when we did Drive, he put me in his contract.
Matt Newman:So in a way, it was like, it took one, two, took three films until it was like this.
Matt Newman:And then it was.
Matt Newman:Then it was, like, established that, okay, you can really handle all of these crazy things that I'm doing.
Matt Newman:But up until then, you know, he was someone, and he was very loyal to Anne.
Matt Newman:It's just.
Matt Newman:She was just too busy.
Matt Newman:So.
Host:Yeah.
Host:That's incredible.
Host:I love what you said about.
Host:You were both.
Host:You were both experimenting, you know, and that's huge.
Host:I mean, I think you.
Host:You got to be in that way, and Cliff's experimenting and, you know, I love that freedom, especially not to be negative, but I don't know if you agree, but we're in a very sterile time, I would say, across the board with all the remakes and the reboots and just sterile and.
Host:But then we have you three, you know, and everyone on your team.
Host:I love to hear that there's still folks out there.
Host:And it obviously works because I've got two of you.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Because I got two of.
Host:Not.
Host:I mean, and it's hard.
Host:I wish I could make room.
Host:It's like sometimes, like, maybe Valhalla is also in my top 50.
Host:You know, it's like, these movies speak to me and it makes sense because I love, like, stuff that's wild experiment, and it fits right in.
Host:So, I mean, I'm so glad, and I know our fan base is too, to hear that people are still trying, because I.
Host:I hear from our fans all the time, it's like, God, like another reboot.
Host:Like, they just announced American Psycho is like, are we really.
Host:We still doing this?
Host:Like, can we just go back to making original stuff?
Matt Newman:It's not going to happen.
Matt Newman:No.
Matt Newman:Not with the current regime.
Matt Newman:Yeah, no, it's.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:That's always been his thing is, Nick, is.
Matt Newman:Is it.
Matt Newman:The more he's done it, the more he's realized that he.
Matt Newman:He just wants to surprise himself and then hopefully surprise other people.
Matt Newman:And he always does it at a price.
Matt Newman:These films are not expensive.
Matt Newman:They're like, yeah, peanuts compared to what people spend on effectively reheated leftovers nowadays.
Matt Newman:It's really like, they make.
Matt Newman:That.
Matt Newman:You have to make them very, very cheaply.
Matt Newman:And, you know, you know, because you read a lot of the stories about Drive, they get made by you.
Matt Newman:We had a lucky star, but people, they don't want to make films like that.
Matt Newman:Because it's.
Matt Newman:It's hard to do it.
Matt Newman:You.
Matt Newman:And it's.
Matt Newman:You divide your audience because it's not something that's for everybody.
Matt Newman:You have to make it at a price and you have to be lucky as well.
Matt Newman:Because they called it the feathered fish.
Matt Newman:That was an expression I heard the first time there.
Matt Newman:They didn't know what to do with it.
Matt Newman:They were like, it's not this and it's not that.
Matt Newman:And if we say it's this, then those people are confused.
Matt Newman:And if we say it's that, those people are confused.
Matt Newman:They just sort of threw their hands up.
Matt Newman:And I understand, because they deal in certainties like the American business is very, very conservative.
Matt Newman:And it has to be because of the amount of money involved.
Matt Newman:But they're very, very, very conservative.
Matt Newman:And anytime something is outside of the lines, they, you can see, or they get nervous, the marketing people get nervous.
Matt Newman:Everyone gets nervous.
Matt Newman:Because now they're going to have to do something they don't usually do.
Matt Newman:They can't just so.
Matt Newman:And I don't think Drive was particularly outside the box.
Matt Newman:We just, we liked it.
Matt Newman:But it was amazing how people were very surprised by or like super annoyed by it because they were like, you can't do that.
Matt Newman:That.
Matt Newman:I was.
Matt Newman:I was lied to.
Matt Newman:I was.
Matt Newman:You cheated me.
Matt Newman:And so you never know.
Matt Newman:You hope the audience is open minded, but sometimes you really discover that not.
Host:Yeah, I know, right?
Host:Like when.
Host:Because when the rights were acquired, they were saying, we want something along the lines of gone in 60 seconds or like Fast and Furious Light.
Host:Then Nick comes in and says, it's a fairy tale.
Host:It's the hero's journey.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Host:And people are just like.
Host:But we had Hugh Jackman like, where's the.
Host:Where are the car crashes?
Host:Where are the explosions?
Host:You know, and he's like, it's a fairy tale.
Host:And that blew my mind.
Host:It actually made sense hearing him talk about it as a fairy tale, because the relationship between the protagonist and it's great.
Host:But I can understand financiers saying, no, that's not.
Host:No.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Matt Newman:I don't think he told them that.
Matt Newman:I think they thought they were doing like three weeks cars and three weeks actors.
Matt Newman:And it was actually like, they didn't have any money, so they.
Matt Newman:For that kind of stuff.
Matt Newman:The stunt guy, Darren Prescott, who I think he only does these huge, like, car films, he had just come back from Fast 5 and he said they'd spent on the first 15 minutes of that film, which was second unit, mainly double the entire production budget of Drive and they'd be.
Matt Newman:Because we had one stunt where we had to flip a car.
Matt Newman:It didn't even flip over and it just went like, bump.
Matt Newman:And he was like, okay, that's it, we're going home.
Matt Newman:And he.
Matt Newman:On his previous one, he'd done that 10 day for like three months in Brazil with a full crew and a repair shop.
Matt Newman:There was no money for the cars, so you had to do it in a different way.
Matt Newman:It's like the cars just take forever.
Matt Newman:It's so boring.
Matt Newman:So it was just like the cars were just sort of reduced to the last bit of the shoot.
Host:That's.
Host:That's intense.
Host:Thank you for that.
Host:All right, next question.
Host:This is what I'm really interested in.
Host:So especially given your background, how you got into the business, you know, what are some.
Host:What are some of the biggest changes you've seen in your profession during your time?
Host:But also, what are some of the.
Host:What does the future hold?
Host:I know a lot of people talking about AI and I also ramble a lot about CGI and things.
Host:And, you know, I love stuff done on film and practical effects.
Host:So what do you see as the future?
Matt Newman:Well, I mean, I just heard recently, somebody was telling me, the director I was talking with, that it is becoming more normal in now for editors to be let go after the offline cut.
Matt Newman:So typically what we're doing, like on a.
Matt Newman:On any size production is the editor follows the film through delivery because, you know, every single piece of it.
Matt Newman:And now they're trying to cut budgets.
Matt Newman:They're doing like you do the cut in the avid offline.
Matt Newman:But as soon as it goes forwards to sound vision, it's like, right, we don't need that guy anymore.
Matt Newman:I haven't personally ever had that.
Matt Newman:But that's one thing where they're trying to reduce the role and just basically hand it off to the next management team.
Matt Newman:Whereas really the editor, along with the director is the person that is shepherding the entire thing.
Matt Newman:You know, holding the baby until you give it to the producer at the end.
Matt Newman:So that's one thing that may or may not be coming.
Matt Newman:I just heard it.
Matt Newman:I think AI could change things.
Matt Newman:It's making some things much easier.
Matt Newman:Like additional dialogue recording in temp.
Matt Newman:You can just do super easy now online, if you need a line off, you don't have to have little subtitles.
Matt Newman:But these are just small efficiencies that just improve your workday.
Matt Newman:I don't think at the minute they affect anybody's.
Matt Newman:It's not existential because most of the Actors won't allow it for a final cut.
Matt Newman:There's no way.
Matt Newman:Yeah, but just in terms of, like, you know, we use temp, vfx.
Matt Newman:We do stupid things in after effects pulling, and they go into the film until the real guys come in and make the object that you see.
Matt Newman:So AI is helping in these little efficiencies.
Matt Newman:And it is certainly helping maybe with, like, data collection and organizing.
Matt Newman:They'll find a way to cut a couple of jobs, I'm sure, you know.
Matt Newman:Yeah, but I haven't seen it yet.
Matt Newman:I think it's more.
Matt Newman:I'm hearing it from the writer's side.
Host:Yeah.
Host:My reaction is always like, who is asking for this?
Host:You know, because my thing is always like, I want.
Host:Because to me, the reason that cinema is so important is because it's everything.
Host:It's visual, it's audio, it's performance, it's writing.
Host:It's all the art forms together.
Host:Right.
Host:It's like, why do we want to.
Host:I know there's technologists and capitalists out there that are very interested in seeing it, but from an art perspective, who's.
Host:Who wants to see it?
Host:I want you cutting the movie.
Host:I want you because you're the artist, you know, and Nick is the artist and the writers are the artists.
Host:Like, I don't want that as a.
Host:As a film fanatic.
Host:I don't want that to go away.
Host:It's just maybe I'm an old.
Matt Newman:Old.
Host:What we call in the States, a codger, you know, an old guy who doesn't work a curmudgeon.
Matt Newman:But no, I don't think any.
Matt Newman:I mean, who knows what the people running those companies really want?
Matt Newman:I'm sure they keep that very close to their chest.
Matt Newman:But, I mean, apart from power, obviously.
Matt Newman:But I think that it's.
Matt Newman:Mostly what I understand is that it'll be somehow integrated as an efficiency tool.
Matt Newman:I don't think it'll replace.
Matt Newman:Although, I don't know.
Matt Newman:I was reading the recent issue of Harper's magazine.
Matt Newman:They've.
Matt Newman:Their lead story is Spotify creating ghost artists through AI on playlists.
Matt Newman:So they're basically, you know, they're not real people and it's not real music.
Matt Newman:It's all AI.
Matt Newman:And that's going on, you know, at a high level.
Matt Newman:I haven't read it yet, but I was like, wow, okay, so I'm gonna find that they are trying this.
Matt Newman:So at the end, it's like, who benefits?
Matt Newman:And I think obviously the AI companies will benefit because they're all racing to create a monopoly just as they did in any other tech sector.
Matt Newman:And I think in Hollywood, its adoption will be based, I think, on the bottom line of, like, if it means the studios can make big efficiencies, of course they'll use it.
Matt Newman:If it can speed up a production.
Matt Newman:I mean, look, digital editing was existential to the guys that came before me suddenly.
Matt Newman:I mean, look, I was a little blase when I said I just told everybody I was an editor.
Matt Newman:The reason that was possible is because I didn't have to spend 10 years literally cutting film.
Matt Newman:I couldn't have blanked that in the film days.
Matt Newman:There's a physical skill, but you get computer software, you can learn it in 4 days if you've got half a brain.
Matt Newman:So, yeah, I think all of those guys, suddenly I was the person coming in and taking their jobs, because I could be like, yo, I know how to use this.
Matt Newman:I learned it yesterday.
Matt Newman:So you're right.
Host:There's a sliding scale, right?
Host:Like, I like the fact that I can interview you and you're in Berlin and I'm in Nashville, Tennessee, in the States, and we're talking, you know, and I can make a podcast because I'm also a horrible audio editor, but I'm just good enough to edit conversations.
Host:But you don't.
Host:Don't ask me to edit a record, you know, because you're right.
Host:Right.
Host:It's a sliding scale.
Host:And, you know, when you study, like, you know, Kubrick, you know, a guy that not only was at film, but he was literally in the room, you know, he had a.
Host:He.
Host:He has the editors for all of his films, had a lodge on his 100 acre property and in London, you know, and like, they were living on campus and he's walking around, you know.
Host:You know, you get this visual of him punishing people for doing the wrong thing.
Host:And obviously that's an exaggeration.
Host:Obviously, he.
Host:He put his editors through the paces.
Host:But you're right, it's.
Host:It's a.
Host:It's a different.
Host:We don't want AI, but we've also benefited from digital.
Host:It's a very interesting conversation to have.
Matt Newman:Oh, sure.
Matt Newman:And my kids use it.
Matt Newman:I mean, my daughter just had to cut like a.
Matt Newman:They do these YouTube style, like a film analysis so that she.
Matt Newman:She.
Matt Newman:She puts together to, you know, some images from films and talks over it.
Matt Newman:And she edited it on a program that she downloaded for free that was really good.
Matt Newman:I was like, wow, that's for free?
Host:Free.
Matt Newman:And the AI helped clean things up, and it was all integrated.
Matt Newman:And I was like, you know, if she does three of those things, you could employ her, you know, or for that matter, anyone that has, you know, sat and played with those things.
Matt Newman:You see great work on YouTube all the time, and.
Matt Newman:And it's just people in their bedrooms using it so effectively.
Matt Newman:The tool, it's like a pen is a tool.
Matt Newman:Doesn't make everyone a novelist.
Matt Newman:You just need to be.
Matt Newman:It's how much, like, I spent my life trying to make films, so that's why I sit in editing rooms doing features.
Matt Newman:But that was also a life choice.
Matt Newman:You know, I said no to a thousand other things in the meantime.
Matt Newman:So it's.
Matt Newman:I don't know.
Matt Newman:I think AI will.
Matt Newman:Will find its place.
Matt Newman:I don't know.
Matt Newman:I think in the film business, it's yet to be seen.
Matt Newman:I know people are scared of it.
Host:Yeah, of course.
Host:Now I'm confused because you just enlightened me on a whole different thing.
Host:I didn't even think about.
Host:About how I'm spoiled by my own technology.
Matt Newman:Yeah, we're all slaves to it.
Host:That's awesome.
Host:Well, I feel like my last.
Host:My last question you answered.
Host:You know, I mean, I don't know if you want to speak more into.
Host:You know, my question was about just kind of your signature in the uniqueness that you develop over time.
Host:I mean, would you say that that is probably not intentional?
Host:Because it never is.
Host:Like any great guitar player you talk to or any great songwriter, it's like they don't set out to be this person.
Host:They just kind of do what comes from them.
Host:But how do you feel like your signature visual?
Host:You know, the color, whatever it is, like, how do you feel like that's developed?
Host:And do you feel like you have.
Host:With your art form, you have something that's very unique to you, that you've developed over the course of your career?
Matt Newman:Well, I'm an editor.
Matt Newman:Editors are not, I tell you, you know, I don't shoot that material.
Matt Newman:I don't write it.
Matt Newman:It's next.
Matt Newman:But what the editor does, what I've learned, what you're responsible for, really.
Matt Newman:I can't change the actors.
Matt Newman:You can't.
Matt Newman:You know, if you have a bad actor, you just have to help him.
Matt Newman:I can't change the performance.
Matt Newman:So you just.
Matt Newman:So a lot of it is just.
Matt Newman:You have to hope that the things you're given, the material already has potential.
Matt Newman:And with Nick, it always does because he's very careful about what he selects, and then he's very careful how he makes it.
Matt Newman:But the one thing I have discovered is that I do know how to.
Matt Newman:And I enjoy flourishes and creating moments, and I've learned how to do that.
Matt Newman:And, like, how you give things shape and how you turn an audience on and how you can accelerate and make somebody excited.
Matt Newman:And those things I've just learned that I enjoy, and I learned how to do them by doing them.
Matt Newman:But it's not like it's a signature or something.
Matt Newman:It's just.
Matt Newman:That's what movies are for.
Matt Newman:They're for giving you a jolt.
Matt Newman:And, you know, the crudeness of films, the bigger they are, somehow the better, and the cruder they are, the better.
Matt Newman:And so I get.
Matt Newman:I get high on doing that, on creating those.
Matt Newman:Helping create those moments and make.
Matt Newman:Making.
Matt Newman:Making it suddenly just suck, you know, when it goes straight into your.
Matt Newman:Straight into your gut.
Matt Newman:That's.
Matt Newman:But, you know, as far as the.
Matt Newman:The style, I don't think any editor would tell you he had a style.
Matt Newman:It's more.
Matt Newman:It's you.
Matt Newman:You have to be.
Matt Newman:You're responsible for the material.
Matt Newman:And so next shoots slow, and you can't speed it up.
Matt Newman:You can just go in and out of it at the right time.
Matt Newman:But that is set on the set.
Matt Newman:That's.
Matt Newman:That's how it's done.
Matt Newman:The actors are doing it like that.
Matt Newman:And if you.
Matt Newman:If you try and compress it.
Matt Newman:And we've had editors come in when we've done TV shows, very smart people have come in and that Nick's material has completely bamboozled them.
Matt Newman:Because usually an editor wants.
Matt Newman:Well, all editors want choices.
Matt Newman:I want to be able to show this.
Matt Newman:I'd like that moment closer.
Matt Newman:I want that detail so you can lead the audience.
Matt Newman:And Nick doesn't do it.
Matt Newman:He has like, one angle for, like, 10 minutes, and then maybe another angle that's wider for 10 minutes, and that's it.
Matt Newman:And you have to make it work.
Matt Newman:And they get very frustrated because he doesn't give you the options.
Matt Newman:So if I have a style, I'm very patient because you have to respect what has been designed.
Matt Newman:So it's really fitting into the design of it rather than I'm going to take all of this coverage and shape it into what I think it should be.
Matt Newman:That's.
Matt Newman:That's not how it's working.
Matt Newman:It's much more like following the direction that he's already set with how he photographed it and the way he made the actors stand and the rhythm they're going at.
Matt Newman:So, yeah, I've seen very smart people reduced tears because they're like, I can't.
Matt Newman:He can't start it on the movie.
Matt Newman:No, they just know.
Matt Newman:It's like, well, we got to fight.
Matt Newman:We got to find some way of making it work.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Or with Nick, is like, is the protagonist going to say anything ever?
Host:Are there any.
Host:Is there.
Host:He's totally fine with Mads and Gosling.
Host:I mean, not saying words he's told, he's totally fine with.
Host:That's what in my email said to you about the breathing.
Host:That's one thing I pick up that.
Host:Thank you for clarifying in the signature thing.
Host:And that is just my, you know, my idiocy for not understanding the art form, but.
Matt Newman:No, not at all.
Matt Newman:No.
Host:You know, but there is the breathing thing, and it's.
Host:It's my lack of experience speaking.
Host:But, like, I just feel like what you and.
Host:And Nick and Cliff, whoever is involved in all that, like, we are forced to just let the visuals breathe oftentimes.
Matt Newman:Oh, yeah.
Host:And I do think.
Host:I don't know where that comes from, but that is something that's.
Host:I would call signature to the films that you all make is that I just love being forced to sit and watch.
Matt Newman:Oh, yeah.
Host:The silence.
Matt Newman:It's great for actors because in most movies it's like close up and they're gone.
Matt Newman:But if you're an actor, in next film, you are on camera, you are being indulged like you are.
Matt Newman:Your face is being studied.
Matt Newman:And I still think, you know, I think he did very good job with Elle in the Neon Demon.
Matt Newman:It's really.
Matt Newman:Those actors are really.
Matt Newman:That you see everything of them and you see their best side, and he really sort of indulges what they have and.
Matt Newman:But that's really all coming from him and people.
Matt Newman:I remember just to.
Matt Newman:Not to go on about it too long, but only God forgives, which is his most.
Matt Newman:Like, people hate that film, but some people also really just think it's just a complete UFO and love it.
Matt Newman:So that film is 86 minutes long, and everyone goes, oh, my God, it's so slow.
Matt Newman:But it's not.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:I think it's cut fast because the material was, like, even slower.
Matt Newman:But he had to slow it down that much.
Matt Newman:Like, we just went on forever, and then now you're just really just seeing these, like, just the right bits in the right order, and it's still slow.
Matt Newman:I know.
Matt Newman:Compared to everything.
Matt Newman:But he's doing that.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:His whole MO is like.
Matt Newman:He wants this intensity.
Matt Newman:And it's kind of weird.
Matt Newman:There's a couple of people do it, but he's definitely his thing yeah.
Host:One of my fondest memories of just movies in general is the Day that Only God Forgives came out.
Host:I took off a whole day of work and we have this independent theater in Nashville, Tennessee.
Host:It's called the Belcourt Theater.
Host:If you're ever in the States, it's worth visiting.
Host:It's wooden and one of the few cinemas still showing a lot of independent film.
Host:I'm one of three people on opening day at the Belcourt Theater.
Host:Sitting in the dark in the middle.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Host:On a Tuesday.
Host:Just enough enamored and my friend's like, what'd you do yesterday?
Host:I was like, I went and saw Only God Forgives.
Host:Like, what?
Host:I'm like, you took off a whole day to see a movie?
Host:I was like, yes, I took off a whole day to see.
Host:I'm just like blown away and, you know.
Host:But it was just.
Host:It's one of my favorite memories of just sitting in this beautiful theater, basically alone and watching, you know, an amazing film.
Host:But you said Only For God Forgives.
Host:I thought you'd enjoy that memory.
Matt Newman:No, no, it's great.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:It's.
Matt Newman:Yeah, that.
Matt Newman:That I.
Matt Newman:I sat in an empty theater once.
Matt Newman:I was literally.
Matt Newman:I went in to see how people reacting and I'm like, I'm the only guy that bought a ticket and I made it.
Matt Newman:That was in Berlin.
Matt Newman:But yeah, they're not easy.
Matt Newman:But they do.
Matt Newman:They do repay watching again.
Matt Newman:That's the thing.
Matt Newman:I watched that one the first time a few years ago.
Matt Newman:I hadn't seen it since we did it and I'd forgotten everything.
Matt Newman:I forgot what we did.
Matt Newman:So I just sort of took it in as a film and I was like, why?
Matt Newman:Is really strange.
Matt Newman:No wonder people were freaked out.
Host:It's like.
Matt Newman:It's certainly not what anyone expected after Drive.
Host:Yeah.
Host:It might be that the I1, you know, for the.
Host:For the untested movie Go.
Host:Or the.
Host:The eye stabbing part.
Host:My.
Host:That might have been where it got.
Matt Newman:Yeah, there was some.
Matt Newman:There was some gnarlyness in that.
Matt Newman:It was necessarily necessary.
Matt Newman:But I don't think of it as.
Matt Newman:I mean, I don't remember the violence.
Matt Newman:I remember that.
Matt Newman:It's just.
Matt Newman:You never know what's coming next.
Matt Newman:It's just so unfolds in such a strange way, so unpredictable and bizarre.
Matt Newman:So.
Matt Newman:Yeah.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Well, Nick himself said he's uncomfortable even with his own violence in his films.
Host:He's.
Host:He doesn't love it.
Host:You know, a lot of people, I think, think he loves ultra violence.
Host:But he's spoken about this.
Host:It's it's.
Host:It's there for the discomfort.
Host:He doesn't enjoy it.
Matt Newman:No.
Matt Newman:And that was one thing that people were always saying that Drive was very violent.
Matt Newman:I guess it was because there'd been nothing in the first half, but because you felt it.
Matt Newman:Because all those people somehow felt quite real.
Matt Newman:And I remember watching Fast Five, which came out at the same time, where they literally kill like 200 people in a favela in Brazil and no one bats an eyelid because it's just fun.
Matt Newman:It's like fun violence.
Matt Newman:You know what I mean?
Matt Newman:It's just like.
Host:Yeah.
Matt Newman:Which is the, you know, Call of Duty style.
Matt Newman:It's just.
Matt Newman:It's there to get high on and not to kind of jolt you out and go, I thought Ryan Gosling was a nice guy in this movie.
Matt Newman:He was not.
Matt Newman:It's like, I don't like that film anymore.
Host:Well, I don't know if Nick realized how meta it was gonna be that the first really big slaying in Drive is Christina Hendricks, and she's this beloved American beautiful actress.
Host:People were obsessed with her in Mad Men and she's this icon of beauty.
Host:And then with Drive, we get a close up of the shotgun to the head.
Host:And I think for some people, that maybe again, just kind of your average view of the way.
Matt Newman:It's actually the first time.
Matt Newman:Right.
Matt Newman:That's the first time in the film.
Matt Newman:I know.
Matt Newman:I could still remember because he kept saying, more, more, more.
Matt Newman:I was going, come on, it's ridiculous.
Matt Newman:And he was right because it put everyone on notice.
Matt Newman:It's so over the top.
Matt Newman:But there you go.
Matt Newman:That's.
Matt Newman:Yeah, he just.
Matt Newman:I think he.
Matt Newman:He likes poking his finger in people's eye.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Well, that's a great note to close on.
Host:Hey, thank you so much for your time.
Host:This was really not only fun, but educational.
Host:I try not to fanboy out too much, but I will just say that I love your work and it's impacted me a lot as a movie lover.
Host:I went from not knowing who Nick was to seeing Drive and then working backwards.
Host:And now a lot of those films in my top 50.
Host:He's probably my third favorite director of all time, and you're a huge part of that.
Host:And so I always try to focus on you and not the other person.
Host:But you guys work as this team, so.
Host:Yeah.
Host:But thank you for doing this.
Host:And our fans are going to eat this up.
Matt Newman:I appreciate it.
Matt Newman:Just out of curiosity, so who are your top two directors?
Host:Oh, direct.
Host:I have, you know, I have yet to get any Email agents.
Host:I have not gotten any direct.
Host:I've gotten a lot of CGI.
Host:I've gotten a couple of Oscar winners.
Host:Tim McGovern, who won the Oscar for Total Recall for that innovative cgi.
Host:I've talked to him.
Host:Yeah, to Mick Rogers, who was both Mel Gibson stuntman, but Mel was also he in or.
Host:Sorry.
Host:Mick also invented the Mick rig for Fast and Furious, which changed.
Host:It actually was safe enough for celebrities now or actors to sit in the movie in the moving vehicle and it made it look faster.
Host:So I've talked to him.
Host:I've talked to Steve Byrne.
Host:He's a comedian and a filmmaker here in Nashville, but he's a well known comedian.
Host:I've talked to a few other folks, but those are just a few examples.
Host:But yeah, I've yet to get.
Host:Get a director in the, in the movie.
Matt Newman:Let's try and get Nick.
Matt Newman:He likes to talk.
Matt Newman:I know he's busy, but he's in la, so he's actually in.
Matt Newman:He's on your time right now?
Matt Newman:More or less.
Host:Yeah.
Matt Newman:If you're in Nashville, let me write to him.
Host:Oh, well, that's very kind.
Matt Newman:Yeah, yeah, no, I'll ask him.
Matt Newman:And then who, who are your.
Matt Newman:You said Nick is number three.
Matt Newman:So which.
Matt Newman:What other directors do you like?
Host:I have like.
Host:Yeah, I have like five that.
Host:That at any given time could take that number one spot.
Host:Like while I'm watching Nick.
Host:It's Nick, you know, but the co.
Host:And Scorsese, Coppola and Paul Thomas Anderson are kind of those five that at any given time could, you know, all very different.
Host:Right?
Host:But I love so many.
Host:It's not because I dislike others.
Host:There's just so like Vorhoeven.
Host:Robocop is my favorite movie of all time.
Host:So Vorhoeven speaks to me.
Host:Yeah, he's great.
Host:That's cool.
Matt Newman:I love Paul Thomas Anderson.
Matt Newman:He's amazing.
Matt Newman:He's amazing.
Host:He really is.
Host:Yeah, you should get that guy.
Matt Newman:Why don't you talk to that guy?
Matt Newman:He's interested.
Matt Newman:Dylan, Is it Dylan?
Host:Yeah, yeah, I saw, I saw Dylan.
Host:He was on the list.
Host:I haven't emailed yet, but I, I did There Will Be Blood with a voice actor friend of mine and we're.
Host:I'm gonna release that in a couple months, so.
Host:Yeah, that would be a good time.
Matt Newman:Yeah, I met him once.
Matt Newman:He was all right.
Matt Newman:He's.
Matt Newman:And he loves to talk about editing.
Matt Newman:He does like, he does quite a lot of seminars, I think.
Matt Newman:He goes and like talks to people and explains what he does and things like that.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Yeah.
Matt Newman:Cool.
Host:Well, that sound.
Host:Yeah, absolutely.
Host:Well, thank you so much, and, yeah, I hope you have a great rest of the day and we'll.
Host:We'll talk soon.
Matt Newman:Thank you, and happy New Year.
Host:Yeah, you too.
Matt Newman:Okay.
Matt Newman:Movie Wars.
