QaSuj, Kuntg, fioastbl piosn
'Sta/i tyJate! to- ^ba/th. G^uyitaJ!
by Steven Ginsberg
1 Remember that movie where
Luke Skvwalker battles the
A. V forces of evil? Has lots of tors
named after it now? The biggest
movie moneymaker of all time?
Star Wars' (Oh yeah). Gary Kurtz
produced that.
Remember the sequel three
years later? Where Luke Skvwalker
battles the forces of evil? Also made
lots of money? The fourth biggest
movie ever? The Empire Strikes
Hack1 (That's right). Gary Kurtz
produced that.
.And remember four years before
Star Wars there was that film about
California high school kids cruising
cars down the boulevard? Aside
from Ron Howard it starred two
unknowns named Cindy W illiams
and Richard Drey fuss Also had un
discovered actors named Suzanne
Sommers, Mackenzie Phillips and
Paul LeMat in smaller roles? Aineri
can llraffiti? (How could we
forget?) Gary Kurtz co produced
that too.
Hut sitting in a small Los Angeles
coffee shop on a recent Friday
morning Kurtz, -»l, hardly fits the
stereotype of the tough sounding
Hollywood producer He is shy but
friendly He talks slowly and pre
ciselv. carefully explaining! his
opinions like a concerned college
professor rather than a -.lick hy]X'
ster He is serious alxnit his work
hut apix'ars equal l\ interested in
the quality of his life t,he relocated
to England five years ago and lives
in the countryside with his wife
and children’! He even orders
oatmeal for breakfast
His latest is an adventure fantasy,
coproduced with Moppets creator
Inn Henson, called 7>v Park levs
ml. a film that has no human ac
tors, onlv an elaborate world of
foam rubber creatures.
Hie Viir Wars pictures were
wonderful but each one took three
years out of tm life. Kurt/ reflects.
'It's nice to have new people come
in and work on them (.the next Star
VVitrs saga, AVreuge of the ftxh. will
be at theaters next June) But I
have a lot of my own projects I
want to work on, and l simply
don't have time to do both
It was while working on The
H.rnptn• Strikes Hack five years ago
that Kurtz first became involved
w ith The Park Crystal He had con
tacted Henson and his associate
Frank Or for advice on how lx*st to
create the film’s mini-hero, Yoda,
when Henson explained an idea he
had for a picture that would go one
■-top furxher than the- Muppets or
Star Vi.trs The worid of the dark
crystal" would lx1 a mythical place
where plants and trees talk, moan
tains and rocks move and water
murmurs music Placed in this set
tieiji would tie the perennial voung
last Kittling pvh.it else?) tlx* forces
ot evil But like everything in the
film he would he the creation of a
team of conceptual artists and film
technicians No live actors would
lx* ust\l
Of course, when The l\irk ins
till is released to theaters this
Christmas there will also lx* a vari
etv of K>oks and pnxluct tie ins to
acquaint audiences with the dif
ficulties of the filmmaking process
and the visual world the film
creates. lw>k for /he lkirk Crystal
figures at your local tin store, a $25
coffee table art ixH>k with the work
of conceptual designer Brian
Proud, plus museum exhibits in
New York, lets Angeles, and Lon
don There will even lx* a limited
line of The Dark Crystal adult de
signer clothes (125 pieces in all) on
sale at expensive specialty stores in
New York, Texas, California and
London.
Many people, particularly those
in the film business, fail to see the
potential value of a picture before
it is made In the early Seventies
Kurtz and Lucas wanted the film
executives at United Artists to pro
duce American Graffiti, but the
studio rejected the picture. It was
finally made at Universal, where it
became one of the most successful
low-budget movies ever produced.
Then Kurtz and Lucas wanted Uni
versal to produce Star Wars but,
like United Artists, the studio is
sued another reject ansi lost the
biggest moneymaker in the htstorv
of the business
Did those experiences teach
Kurtz anvthing> Yes." he answers
It taught me you have to make the
films that you want to see You
can’t second guess the studio or
the audience And it you don't find
an audience for your film you can't
get depressed about it There will
tie another "
Easy for Kurtz to say, since pro
ducing films has made him more
than a millionaire and given him
clout in Hollywood. Still, it was not
that long ago that he graduated
from him ->chool at the University
of Southern California and worked
on low budget movies as every
thing from sound editor, costumer,
makeup man, and editor to
cameraman, production manager
and, sometimes, director. It was
also during that time that he met
Lucas, w ho was just completing his
first feature, TUX 1138, and the
pair went to work on getting Amer
ican Graffiti off the ground.
That's why, w'hen lecturing at
colleges, Kurtz says he makes a
special point to advise fledgling
film students to do as much work
as they can on as many projects as
they can in preparation for what s
to come in “the real world." But
that advice, he adds, is not always
done in his most encouraging tone.
“When 1 talk to students 1 go out
of my way to do one thing,” he
admits. “To be negative. If they’re
dedicated it won’t matter what I
say. They'll ignore me. And those
are the ones who will get ahead.”
J
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