Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/205356
photography by courtesy of turner entertainment networs, inc. time warner group (mob city ); courtesy of Tribeca films (the fitzgreald family christmas) Burns embraces the notorious Bugsy Siegel in Mob City. Purple Violets, and now releasing The Fitzgerald Family Christmas on Netflix and On Demand. How is video on demand effective? Early on I found myself watching a lot of movies on iTunes. With theatrical releases you can open in a theater in New York, maybe LA, and that's it. If it eventually goes on DVD it's going to be 10 months later and no one's going to remember. So we thought, How do we get the movie out so that people between the coasts—if they see me on Jimmy Fallon or Conan—get the movie the day after? iTunes. [Purple Violets] was the first movie to do so, and it was very successful. Add Netflix, and now with The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, we held back on Netflix, the DVD, and On Demand. So it [gives it] a second release. Being a writer, actor, producer, and director, is there one hat you prefer? By far the writing. I started as a writer. The first dream was to become a novelist. Only after I wrote my first screenplay did I think about directing. It's the one part of the process that isn't collaborative. So I get to sit down and disappear into this world I created, and I love it. Having 10- and 7-year-old children, how do you balance family and film—given how busy your wife, Christy, is too? Prior to having kids, it's very easy to be selfish. There's nothing wrong with wanting to take care of you and things that are important to you. I was more than willing to say, "It's no longer about me; it's about them." The rewards that come with that are huge. You have to be present, not only physically, but also mentally. I'm very lucky because I make my independent movies. My wife and I both decided we love New York and want to raise the kids in New York. For the most part I don't have to travel much. I'm able to coach the soccer team and the little league team and drop off and pick up every day after school. With actress Connie Britton on the set of The Fitzgerald Family Christmas. Christy has made a huge impact with her foundation Every Mother Counts, which advocates for global maternal health. How does supporting her philanthropic efforts, as a couple, create a broader impact for the organization? Almost everything [philanthropic] that I do now I do for her charity. I love what she's doing, and I love the cause, so it's very easy for me to jump on board and help her out. What's a typical Burns family ski vacation like? The kids ski. They're not up for snowboarding just yet, but my daughter is starting to think about it. Every winter we usually do two trips out West. I picked up [snowboarding] later in life, as you well know. I always loved being on the mountain, but was a terrible skier. So the snowboarding I enjoy. We'll get in 10 days [of skiing], which for New York is a good amount of time. That's Aspen talk, by the way. Everyone counts how many ski days they get in. What's next? Will The Brothers McMullen reappear? The 20th anniversary of The Brothers McMullen going to Sundance will be in 2015. I looked at people who made sequels to their small indie movies—Richard Linklater with Before Sunrise and Kevin Smith with Clerks. I started thinking about a sequel to The Brothers McMullen; messing around with ideas, I couldn't find what I wanted to do. But I had each of the brothers having a son, and as I started to write, I became more interested in these teenagers. So I thought, Why don't I do a prequel? I'm writing a script now. It's the young McMullens, and it takes place in 1986. They're four years apart, so it's the last year of eighth grade, [then] the last year of high school, and last year of college for these three guys. Hopefully we'll shoot in March/April and have it ready for Sundance in January [2015]. It's a lot more fun to imagine who they were as kids or as young men. And, it's different. AP "Everybody's got a part of them that's the rebel, the outlaw, or the bad boy. I'm sure most people who live in a big city wish they could pull a Bugsy Siegel. We're attracted to the dark side." aspenpeak-magazine.com 157 152-157_AP_F_CoverStory_WIN13_SPR_14.indd 157 10/29/13 1:37 PM