In a Thanksgiving Eve email to crowdfunding contributors, the producers of The Other Side of the Wind updated fans on the editing of the soon-to-be-finished Orson Welles’ movie.
Filip Jan Rymsza, who is producing the movie with Frank Marshall, revealed that the editing is “well underway.”
“It’s very exciting to see the narrative take shape while maintaining Orson’s artful edge,” he noted.
The film’s editor, Oscar winner Bob Murawski (The Hurt Locker) was familiar with the footage Welles shot between 1970 and 1976 prior his selection by Rymsza and Marshall.
“Bob lived a few houses down from the film’s cinematographer, the late Gary Graver,” Rymsza said. “Gary showed him various materials over the years, so, for Bob, his involvement fulfills a lifelong dream.”
Murawski is working with four-time Oscar winner Scott Milan (Apollo 13, Gladiator), who is handling the re-recording and mixing. Legendary negative cutter Mo Henry (Apocalypse Now Redux, L.A. Confidential) was charged with the complex task of reassembling for 4K scanning the more than 1,000 reels of film. Ruth Hasty (Mission: Impossible, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) is the post production supervisor.
The film, which Welles had hoped to be his Hollywood comeback in the 1970s, is produced by Royal Road Entertainment and will be released by Netflix in 2018.
Prior Netflix’s involvement, producers embarked on an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to help finance the project. They raised $406,605 from fans in spring 2015.
Numerous perks, including T-shirts and posters, were promised to donors based on the amount contributed. Film cans and bathrobes will be shipped by year’s end.
The full text of Rymsza’s message to Indiegogo supporters:
Dear Contributors,
We recently added Academy-Award-winning editor Bob Murawski and four-time Academy-Award-winning sound mixer Scott Milan to our creative team.
Bob and Scott join legendary negative cutter Mo Henry and our marvelous post production supervisor Ruth Hasty.
Here’s a link to the announcement:
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/orson-welles-other-side-of-the-wind-near-completion-1202610052/
Bob lived a few houses down from the film’s cinematographer, the late Gary Graver. Gary showed him various materials over the years, so, for Bob, his involvement fulfills a lifelong dream.
Editing is now well underway. It’s very exciting to see the narrative take shape while maintaining Orson’s artful edge.
As for perks, the bathrobes and film cans should ship out by the end of the year.
Happy holidays!
Sincerely,
Filip
The negative, rushes, dailies and sound elements for The Other Side of the Wind spent decades in a film laboratory outside Paris until Rymsza and Marshall reached agreements with the rights holders and teamed with Netflix. The streaming giant, which has more than 109 million subscribers worldwide, will also distribute a companion documentary by Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom).
A 4K scan of the negative was completed by Technicolor in Hollywood in September and the audio elements digitized.
The film’s executive producers are Peter Bogdanovich, Jens Koethner Kaul, Beatrice Welles, Dominique Antoine, Carla Rosen-Vacher, Olga Kagan and Jon Anderson. The movie’s screenplay is credited to Welles and Oja Kodar.
The Other Side of the Wind takes place at the 70th birthday party of maverick movie director Jake Hannaford (John Huston), who is struggling to make a comeback film during the rise of New Hollywood. The party is attended by young directors, like Brooks Otterlake (Bogdanovich), hangers-on and critics – many of whom are patterned after people in Welles’ life. Hannaford dies at the conclusion of the party and his final hours are recounted in the movie using a mix of still photos, and 8mm, 16mm and 35mm color and black-and-white film shot at the party, along with scenes from his unfinished movie. Rounding out the cast are Kodar, Cameron Mitchell, Mercedes McCambridge, Susan Strasberg, Edmond O’Brien, Norman Foster, Joseph McBride, Paul Stewart and Robert Random.
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