The damn dirty hippies love documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. He thinks he’s too good for McDonalds. I say we should ship his pinko hinder back to Russia!!!
Spurlock’s “30 Days,” the show about people doing stuff they normally wouldn’t do for 30 days, returns to FX for a second season 10 p.m. Wednesday. Longtime AICN fixture Elston Gunn has interviewed Spurlock a second time!
Last year filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's (SUPER SIZE ME) documentary
series 30
DAYS placed a volunteer into unfamiliar territory for thirty days,
addressing such topics as minimum wage, Muslims in America, anti-aging,
binge drinking, homophobia and eco-villages. The series received
critical acclaim, earned a nomination for a Golden Laurel Award from
the
Producers Guild of America and won a GLAAD Award for Best Reality Show
for
the gay/straight episode. Spurlock and his wife, Alex, were themselves
the
guinea pigs in the episode dealing with minimum wage, prompting Oprah
Winfrey to have them on her show to discuss the issue. The show is
back for
a second season and will focus on such issues as pro-life/pro-choice,
immigration, outsourcing, new age health and atheism/Christianity.
Spurlock
will appear in an episode about jail life, which could possibly have
been a
nice break from the bevy of projects keeping him busy at the moment.
The
first season of 30 DAYS was just released on DVD and the new season
premieres Wednesday, July 26, at 10 PM (EST) on FX.
[Elston Gunn]: Congratulations on the PGA nomination, the GLAAD award
and
the opportunity to reach Oprah's audience. What does all that mean to
you
and the show?
[Morgan Spurlock]: For me, it shows that we're creating something that
strikes a chord with people. 30 DAYS hits people on different
emotional
levels and that's incredibly rewarding.
[EG]: Do you feel like somewhat of a spokesman for such issues as
minimum
wage?
[MS]: If our show can keep people talking about these issues in a way
that
doesn't end with someone getting hit with a shoe, you know, a civil
conversation, then that's a great outcome. I will do what I can to
help
further the debate but more often than not, I just let the show speak
for
itself.
[EG]: What was your biggest surprise from last season?
[MS]: I was really blown away by how the show was received. I must've
met
100 teachers who told me they couldn't wait for the DVD so they could
use it
in their classrooms. That's pretty cool.
[EG]: What specific lessons did you learn from the first season that
you
applied to the second?
[MS]: I think we just became much smarter in producing the show.
Everything was just more efficient this year, from pre-production, to
actual
shooting to post. The show is so massive. Each episode takes around
20
weeks from start to finish. One problem can throw off the whole
schedule.
[EG]: How do you compare this batch of episodes to last year's?
[MS]: After last year, I said "we're never gonna be able to top this."
But
I think we've outdone ourselves with season two.
[EG]: Some of these issues seem a little more intense, particularly
pro-life/pro-choice.
[MS]: We're really tackling some hot button topics this year, from
immigration to outsourcing to abortion, and I think the show does an
amazing
job of presenting these issues through the eyes of the participants.
[EG]: Did you have a pro-lifer work at a clinic? Who had to do what
for 30
DAYS in that episode?
[MS]: We had a woman who was pro-choice, who herself had an abortion a
few
years ago, work in a pro-life maternity home. The home, which is run
by a
pastor and his wife, takes in pregnant women and helps support them as
they
have their baby.
[EG]: I'm looking forward to the new age healing episode as I've known
people who've had tremendous success with it, though the practice still
seems like uncharted territory for the most part.
[MS]: This episode is great. Very funny. I'm anxious to see how many
linebackers sign up for a yoga class after this episode, now that will
be
the real litmus test.
[EG]: Was it fortuitous that you chose to do an immigration episode
this
year, or did you film the episode as immigration reform was making news
on a
daily basis?
[MS]: It was really fortuitous that it blew up into the issue it is
now.
When we had the idea on our short list, it was being talked about on
news
shows but hadn't sparked the massive protests and marches that ensued.
That's part of the gamble we make in deciding topics for the show is
trying
to find issues that aren't just timely when we sit down in the
brainstorm
meetings, but ones that will be topical when the show hits the air 8
months
later.
[EG]: In a recent article about the new season it was reported you
didn't
spend the full 30 days in jail. Did you get more than enough footage
than
you needed or was it getting to be too much?
[MS]: In the state of Virginia, where I was locked up, most inmates
serve
85% of their jail time prior ro release. That's why I was released on
Day
25, it had nothing to do with us getting what we needed or it being too
much.
[EG]: What did you learn from the solitary confinement experience?
[MS]: Solitary confinement is terrible. I can't even imagine what its
like
for inmates who spend months or years alone in a cell, your only
interaction
with the outside world being when a guard brings you your food. It
messes
with your mind, and I was only in there for 72 hours!
[EG]: How do you determine the topics for the episodes, and do you
have
ideas for a third season already? What's your criteria?
[MS]: We pull our show topics right from the front pages of the news.
We
search out relevant issues in our society and start to explore how we
could
examine it. We've started discussing a third season, but when it comes
to
TV, ratings rule all. So, let's see how season two does first.
[EG]: As the producer, host and participant in one episode per season,
how
important is it for you to find that balance of illustrating your
points and
watching the experiment unfold without it becoming "The Morgan Spurlock
Show?" How do you approach it?
[MS]: We approach the episode from the viewpoints of the participants.
It's through their eyes that we go on this journey, allowing the topic
to
take us on a tangent here and there to give the viewer some background
or
history. The show could easily become an agenda driven soapbox, but
then it
wouldn't be true to its purpose. We all have preconceived ideas about
people, places and things - whether it's what Muslims or homosexuals
are
like to what goes on inside prison. It's interesting to see if those
stereotypes are shattered or reinforced over the course of 30 days.
[EG]: You've been criticized for creating the show less like a
documentary
and more of a vehicle to exemplify your own preconceived opinions. How
do
you respond to that?
[MS]: I think that's ridiculous. With the exception of the two
episodes
that I am an actual participant in, I think you'd be hard pressed to
find my
point of view or opinion on the topics in any of the episodes. I think
we
live in a world where the only people that get any TV time or ink are
the
pundits on the extreme left or right of an issue, and we're told that's
how
the world is, when in reality, most of America lives somewhere in the
middle. For me, its important for the show to come at it from that
point.
The people we get to take part aren't the central casting extremists
you'd
see if the show was on another network. And that sets up the journey
from
the start, one where people have strong opinions but are open to a
dialogue.
I think the greatest thing anyone, whether its a participant or a
viewer,
can take away from 30 DAYS is the importance of tolerance in today's
world.
[EG]: The first season was just released on DVD. Commentary on four
episodes and a "Diary Cam" for all six. Do you take DVD ideas into
consideration as you film the episodes?
[MS]: We always talk about what will go on the DVD, especially during
the
edit process when favorite scenes have to be laid to rest on the fabled
cutting room floor. But even then, you can't put in everything, so
that's
why we decided on just letting the participants talk about their
experience
in diary cams. We thought that was the best way to provide more
insight
into what they were thinking and feeling at the time.
[EG]: You've got a lot on your plate right now. What can you tell us
about
the film you're exec producing CLASS ACT, the project based on Chris
Mooney's book THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE and your Comedy Central
show?"
[MS]: CLASS ACT should be coming out on DVD later this year after
having
made the festival rounds and we are currently developing the Chris
Mooney
book, which we are calling BLINDED BY SCIENCE because for me it isn't
just a
Republican problem. We shot a pilot for Comedy Central called PUBLIC
NUISANCE that we are waiting final word from them on. Hopefully, it
will be
coming to a TV near you next spring. And this Christmas, we'll be
releasing
a film I produced about the commercialization of Christmas. It's
pretty
fantastic and funny and timely.
[EG]: Additionally, you've just launched a distribution label with
Hart
Sharpe Video and have two films set for release soon. What's your goal
with
the label and what kind of films are you looking for?
[MS]: I travel to film festivals all the time and see great movies
that
vanish and never see the light of day beyond the fest circuit. The
goal
with this new label is to give these filmmakers a chance to get their
movies
seen by as many people as possible. We want to find films that have
some
social relevance, that spark debate, that tackle tough topics in an
original
way. Right now it's only on DVD, but next year we will expand to
television
and theaters. I've been really lucky and blessed in the last couple of
years and if I can do anything to open doors for other filmmakers, then
I
should.
Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com
Elston’s Links:
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* The Comeback: The Complete Series
