FourTwoFive Films Bruce Reisman talks about film “Five Good Years.” Taryn Manning and Jerry Ferrara to join cast.

2009 August 30

tags: 8 Mile, Bruce Reisman, Five Good Years, FourTwoFive Films, Gith Public Relations, hustle and flow, Jerry Ferrara, Kris Black, Taryn Manning, The House That Jack Built, Turtle from Entourage

by ifelicious

Bruce Reisman of FourTwoFive Films

Preface…

In my post, “Behind the scenes look at Kris Black photo shoot for Men’s Health,” I mentioned that I had the opportunity to sit down with co-owner/writer for FourTwoFive Films, Bruce Reisman. It was ears at attention for me as I sat down next to a man who has been in the industry for 40+ years. Fortunately, he’s the kind of guy who enjoys a moment to impart wisdom on younger generations which is part of his charm. Bruce speaks at an even pace, with purpose, and without reservation presenting some strong views about New Hollywood that you’ll eventually get to read. I could easily picture him in a lecture hall at some prestigious university with the sounds of pens and paper (or is it fingers on keyboards nowadays?) in the background scurrying trying to capture his every word. I am personally indebted to him and extremely grateful for the exposure and opportunities he’s laid before me. We spoke for maybe 30 minutes in his “office” and home while the hustle and bustle of the Men’s Health photo shoot continued several floors below.

Instead of breaking the interview into parts, per se, I will continue to post portions of our conversation in a kind of “Bruce speaks about…” format because he was truly outspoken about specific topics that warrant their own space. Buckle your seatbelts, you’re really going to enjoy what he has to say.

People Get Ready…

While Bruce Reisman’s name may not ring a bell to you right away, he has written for some of the greatest television series of the 70s and 80s including “Bonanza,” “Chips,” and “St.Elsewhere” (one of my all time fav shows). His career also includes acting, although Bruce is the first to tell you that was never his forté. His strength all along, even when writing, has been directing, and he spends a good part of his time with FourTwoFive Films in that capacity.

In this part of our conversation, Bruce describes the inspiration, plot, and casting for “Five Good Years.” As in the last FourTwoFive Films project “The House That Jack Built,” Kris Black jointly wrote the script with Bruce and will play the leading role. The cast will also include Taryn Manning from “8 Mile” and “Hustle and Flow.” The latest buzz is that Jerry Ferrara best known as “Turtle” on the HBO hit series “Entourage” is just inches away from formally joining the cast.

So the story begins…

fgy_poster Ifelicious: Tell me about what you have going on today.

Bruce: We’re doing a photo shoot, promotion, and starting the documentary of “The Making of ‘Five Good Years’” all in one day. Today’s the first day that our producer/director of that project “The Making of ‘Five Good Years’.”

Ifelicious: I didn’t realize that you all were doing a documentary so tell me a little bit about that.

Bruce: What happens when these movies go to DVD, people like the nuts and bolts, the behind the scenes process. We did a little bit of one on “The House That Jack Built,” but knowing how important it is, we decided to start from the very beginning even before we actually start shooting “Five Good Years.” We’re going to shoot all of the process from development straight through post-production.

Ifelicious: Where are you in the process?

Bruce: We’re in the process of casting the picture…[and] finding locations which will be in Detroit, Michigan. We’re going to be beginning principal photography sometime in mid-October.

Ifelicious: What does principal photography mean?

Bruce: Principal photography is a term given for the actual shooting of the movie. This [currently] is pre-production and then, after you finish the movie, and they say, “It’s a wrap,” you go into post production which is editing, special effects, all that good stuff.

Ifelicious: Tell me about how this movie idea happened and your part in the writing process.

Bruce: The story of “Five Good Years” is inspired by an actual lady that I know. Her name is Marcy, and Marcy has a very rare form of cancer. Kris and I as writing partners wanted to do a boxing story, and we sort of wanted to do a story about a mother and son. So we decided to combine these two stories and create this role of a coal miner that Kris will be playing Alex who is one of three children being raised by a single mother who comes down with this rare form of cancer, and because the mining company’s insurance company will not pay for her treatment, Kris’s character, Alex, takes a job as a human punching bag in a boxing ring to make extra money.

Ifelicious: So [Alex] has no prior experience boxing?

Bruce: No, but he’s a street fighter. He gets in ballroom brawls because he’s also a trumpet player and he makes extra money in dive bars in the south playing the trumpet. The people get drunk and heckle him, and he gets in fights and ends up in jail all the time.

Ifelicious: Ok, so he’s using his forces for good.

Bruce: Yes, that’s right…[Alex] sees that he can make more money as an actual fighter. So he goes into training. His best friend becomes his trainer, a fellow coal miner. His cause is taken on by a young CNN reporter played by Taryn Manning an actress who was in “Hustle and Flow” and “8 Mile.” She’s fantastic, and she’s going to be playing the girl that’s sort of the Barbara Stanwyck role from like “Meet John Doe” to Kris’s Gary Cooper. She turns him into a media star, and the whole country gets behind this coal miner and his plight to save his mother’s life.

Ifelicious: That sounds like a great story. I know when I talked to Kris a few weeks ago, he was saying that the reception for the script has been overwhelmingly positive.

Bruce: Across the board. We didn’t realize what we were writing, and we wrote it in a very short period of time.

Ifelicious: Also, from interviewing Kris I learned that you were looking to cast Jerry Ferrara?

Bruce: Jerry Ferrara [who plays "Turtle" on the HBO series "Entourage"] is the person we approached to play the part of Jackson who is [Alex’s] best friend who will train him. He accepted the role, and at that time, we were going to be shooting in March or April [2009]. He couldn’t do it because they were shooting “Entourage.” Now the picture has been moved to the Fall, so we’ll be going back to Jerry, and if he’s available, he’ll do it.