Part one of the interview.
What did you learn about constructing screenplays, and constructing them so that they are easier to get financed?
My
advice to anyone writing screenplays right now or sometime in the
future is write the absolute best screenplay you can about a subject
that genuinely interests you. I’ve talked to countless agents
and managers and their job is to steer creative people into lucrative
situations and the best advice I’ve heard these people give is when
they say, ''What story are you dying to do next?'' And that’s
it. That’s the easiest way to attract talent and get a film
or TV show made. Pick a subject you really want to dive into
and get passionate about, then execute the design to the best of your
ability. Your passion should shine through and it becomes
infectious. If it’s not shining through, you have to look at
the design, the craft, the execution and work hard on these things
until they improve. But you should try to pick subjects and
stories that you have a need to get out into the world. Another
way of putting this is saying what movie would you like to see that’s
never been in a movie theater? Write that movie. It’s a
fair question to ask what attracted me to the story of Bob Crane?
It was this. How does a guy who appears to have everything fall
so far? Here’s a church-going husband, father, working two
jobs to support his family, a star on TV – how does he end up in a
pool of blood in temporary housing after performing in a dinner
theater play? Ultimately, answering that question became a
passionate thing for me, and I hope the story is stronger for it.

Were
any other filmmakers apart from Paul Schrader considered or
approached to direct the film?
Like
any development process for any project, the script went out to
several actors, directors, producers. Larry asked me to watch a
movie Paul directed called BLUE COLLAR (1978) and tell him what I
thought about it. It wasn’t long after that Paul signed on as
director, and he brought Dafoe with him and with Kinnear already
attached we had enough talent on board to get the film funded.
Paul
really beefed up the Carpenter role. And the relationship
between these two very different personalities who came together for
a common purpose gained from Paul’s involvement. Paul also
lived through this time in Hollywood, he was actually there. He
was at these 70’s Hollywood parties. I’m not saying the
exact parties Bob attended, but it’s a world Paul had seen
firsthand. So he brought a veritas and a gravity to the story
that I couldn’t. I was just a kid when Bob was murdered, and
I didn’t get to Hollywood until the 1990’s.
What
do you think the film gained from his involvement?
It’s
safe to say Paul got AUTO FOCUS made. So Paul gave the ultimate
gift, the film is now on Blu Ray instead of sitting in script
form in a box in my garage.
Did
you spend much time on set? Did you revise the script during filming?
I
did visit the set and I even appear in the film. If you watch
closely and don’t blink, you will see Michael Gerbosi set up a
microphone stand on the stage for Bob just before Bob starts the
question and answer portion of his dinner theater play. I even
received stage direction from Paul Schrader, which was surreal.

How
involved were Bob Crane's family and wives?
I
believe Rita consulted with Bob’s first wife, and Bob’s son (also
named) Bob appeared in the film as the Christian interviewer and he
was also brought in as a consultant. I met a couple times with
Bob’s son Bob and found him to be a lovely person. No family
can come out of an experience like the Crane family’s experience
without some bumps and bruises and I’m sure the Crane family wasn’t
too thrilled to live through this. I mean how do you ever
process that information, really?
I
don’t think Scotty participated other than visiting the set.
I heard rumors about a dinner meeting between Scotty and Paul that
involved an honest exchange of opinions, but I wasn’t there and
don’t know anything about it.
How
did you feel about Scotty Crane's criticisms of the movie?

I’m
not aware of Scotty Crane’s criticisms. I will say this, I
wish Scotty Crane the best and I’m sorry for his loss. He
didn’t ask for any of this. The entire Crane family is an
unfortunate victim of this unsolved murder.
How
do you feel about the casting choices?
I
think Kinnear gave the performance of his life. Dafoe creeps me
out. Rita Wilson is perfect. I was very, very happy with
the casting. Even Ron Leibman as the long suffering agent is
perfect.
What
do you remember the most about the first screening? How happy were
you with it?
I
thought the opening credits were cool and really set the mood.
The performances were all great. The movie got progressively
darker with each pass Paul made to the script and the first time I
watched it I remember thinking ''Wow that’s a dark movie”.
Of course, my name was on it, so it sort of defined me for a lot of
years.
Were
you surprised at the lack of Oscar nominations?
I
believe the three people who saw this film in a theater all pushed
for Oscar nominations but we just fell a little short. As an
aside, my future wife saw this film in a movie theater. When
she told me this I knew I was going to marry her.
What
was the immediate impact upon your career?

Recently
I’ve written a television pilot (and own the rights to a series of
19 books) about a Mennonite detective living in Pennsylvania Amish
country. I’m shopping the project now. Also, recently I
sat down with Todd Rosken to discuss two different books that he
believes would make great movies, and both of them involve famous
people who are deceased. So maybe lightning will strike twice
for me and Todd. On that subject, that’s another piece of
advice I can pass along to your readers. Don’t try to write a
biopic about a living person. Even with the departed you still
have to deal with plenty of issues, but with the living it’s just
impossible to avoid a lawsuit or three that will derail many
projects. William Goldman famously said films are fragile
things. Sometimes they fall apart if the wind blows. If
you undertake writing a biopic about a living person, that’s like
writing in a hurricane.
AUTO FOCUS is available on Blu-ray in the US and can be ordered from Twilight Time and Screen Archives.
Photographs featuring Paul Schrader are from his website.
Interview by Paul Rowlands. Copyright © Paul Rowlands, 2018. All rights reserved.
AUTO FOCUS is available on Blu-ray in the US and can be ordered from Twilight Time and Screen Archives.
Photographs featuring Paul Schrader are from his website.
Interview by Paul Rowlands. Copyright © Paul Rowlands, 2018. All rights reserved.
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