Los Angeles native Jeanne Elfant Festa dreamed of being a slapstick comedian, however at age 40 she had an epiphany that led to an award-winning profession. After a good friend requested her to assist produce a small stage play. Festa, now 60, found the fun of behind-the-scenes work. Since then, she has co-produced memorable award-winning documentaries of the previous decade: The Beatles: Eight Days a Week; The Apollo; Pavarotti; The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Damaged Coronary heart and, most lately, the Emmy Award-winning Lucy and Desi.
Festa talks to Senior Planet about her life as an award-winning documentary producer:
Q: Congratulations on the 2 Emmy wins for Lucy and Desi. What drew you to look additional into the lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz?
FESTA: I’ve all the time beloved Lucille however I feel all of us knew much less about Desi Arnaz, a person who didn’t take no for a solution and was a superb businessman. He’s been type of pushed beneath the carpet whereas others have taken credit score, and also you see that in our movie. So, on the forefront it’s Desi and his perseverance as a result of actually at each flip folks would inform him he can’t try this.
We couldn’t slot in each element however, earlier than him, no one had a studio with a reside studio viewers, so he really modified the best way we do enterprise. Even these little issues the place he took a hammer and a nail and mentioned, ‘Okay, I’m going to construct this’, as a result of he did. He was there each step of the best way. Due to their grownup kids, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill and Desi Arnaz Jr, we had entry to never-before-seen archival recordings, together with taped recollections and residential films, and feedback from the Arnaz kids and from fellow legends Norman Lear, Bette Midler and Carol Burnett.
Q: Why was Amy Poehler the appropriate director for Luci and Desi?
FESTA: Individuals would possibly say she’s a performer however, if you’re a comedic actress and also you’re presenting the core of who you’re, you’re really directing the method. And Amy was in our dwelling rooms with Parks and Recreation in a manner that was similar to Lucy and Desi. Amy additionally wrote, directed and produced that present, so I simply thought she was excellent for this. She was the one particular person on my record. Amy had a transparent imaginative and prescient and insisted on interviewing actual individuals who knew Lucy and Desi – in a manner that may hold them alive – whereas additionally creating a really ahead wanting movie. She actually introduced them again to life, reasonably than painting them as untouchable icons. If we solely discuss how humorous and sensible they have been, you overlook their humanity and Amy actually reveals them as actual folks with all of the love and relatability.
Q: Did your coronary heart sink final yr when Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem co-starred as Luci and Desi in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos?
FESTA: We knew it was coming and watched it come to fruition. Nevertheless it had a constructive impact as a result of folks wished to see these two unbelievable actors and so it simply enhanced our venture.
Q: Collectively along with your three companions at White Horse Footage, you’re answerable for producing and documenting the artists who’ve actually fashioned the soundtracks of our lives. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Bee Gees, Billy Joel, Pavarotti. . . Is it simpler if the topic is deceased?
FESTA: I don’t assume so as a result of, even when the particular person has handed away, you’re nonetheless coping with their members of the family defending them. So I really assume it’s harder after they’re not right here to speak within the first particular person to look again and mirror.
Q: What was your first music documentary?
FESTA: Foo Fighters: Again and Forth was the primary movie I govt produced. It actually happened as a result of I had finished all this background analysis and I had story factors and concepts. After which one factor led to a different and I had a good friend who had these distant cameras so we might do that with out affecting the band’s mojo.
Q: You’re buying and selling in nostalgia too with these documentaries? Child boomers like to indulge within the golden period of music with The Beatles, Bob Dylan or The Bee Gees?
In fact there’s a nostalgia element however we satisfaction ourselves on making documentaries which might be like movies with a story function.
FESTA: In fact there’s a nostalgia element however we satisfaction ourselves on making documentaries which might be like movies with a story function. We don’t do any reenactments and use a basic three act construction. And the analysis course of is extremely deep, searching for issues that maybe folks weren’t conscious of or spotlight issues they may have forgotten, like how The Bee Gees have been actually children after they started in Australia and all of the artists that they wrote for, so I feel we actually defined their brilliance. A lot of this has to do with the method of creativity. And I feel audiences have an interest within the massive Why? Which is one in all our greatest discussions after we first begin a venture.
A lot of this has to do with the method of creativity
Q: What’s your secret to ageing with angle?
FESTA: I feel the key is train. Each morning, I begin my day at 7am with calisthenics or a jog. I do a 75 minute routine which could embody burpees, planks, Pilates or yoga. I try this each day besides Sundays after I sleep in however, even then, I’ll go for a stroll as a result of it’s important to transfer each day. Motion is primary by far to maintain you bodily comfy and to begin your time off freshly meditated with an excellent and constructive angle. It doesn’t matter what your life seems like, you’re met with roadblocks so in case you’re relaxed if you hit these roadblocks, you’ll be able to take a look at it one other manner. It’s additionally good to do not forget that we are able to be taught from our errors – even when that’s typically tough. So be wholesome and use widespread sense like don’t drink or eat an excessive amount of. Nourishment is essential. And household is absolutely necessary too. I’m fortunate I’ve been married to my husband for 37 years and we now have two unbelievable children. Pets is usually a great supply of assist too. I really like my pets. I’ve my canines and a fowl and a few koi. Pets actually heart you. Additionally, as my mom would say – bear in mind to moisturize!
Q: What’s your favorite documentary you’ve produced?
FESTA: In all probability The Apollo which chronicles the distinctive historical past and modern legacy of latest York’s landmark Apollo Theater. Over the past 85 years, what started as a refuge for marginalized artists has emerged as a hallowed corridor of Black excellence and empowerment. It took us seven years to succeed in the ending line and it was an actual labor of affection. On a private word, my dad and mom used to reside in Brooklyn and my father beloved Harlem and informed me all these wonderful tales about going to The Apollo and I do know he could be so proud to see it if he was alive right this moment.
Q: What’s subsequent for you at White Horse Footage?
FESTA: We’re engaged on Wilder concerning the life and work of comedic appearing legend Gene Wilder, additionally STAX, a take a look at Stax Data, answerable for a few of the biggest soul hits of the Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, plus a documentary about legendary musician Billy Preston. We’re additionally producing the absolutely licensed function, Shari & Lamb Chop, specializing in the legendary and beloved ventriloquist Shari Lewis.
Lucy and Desi is presently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Pic credit score (high):Todd Williamson
Pic credit score (center) Amazon Studios
Gill Pringle started her profession as a rock columnist for standard British newspapers, touring the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Transferring to Los Angeles 27 years in the past, she interviews movie and TV personalities for prestigious UK shops, The Impartial, The i-paper and The Sunday Occasions – and, after all, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Alternative Affiliation, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix household movie, The three Tails Film: A Mermaid Journey. An award-winning author, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Membership with 1st prize on the NAEJ Awards.
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