Ep. 396: Filmmaker Mark Anthony Green Talks 'Opus' & The Power Of Fame

In this exclusive interview, I sit down with writer and director Mark Anthony Green for a quick dive deep into his thought-provoking film, "Opus," in theaters on Friday, March 14.  

We discuss the overwhelming love he received at the Atlanta screening, the film's powerful themes of tribalism, leadership, and the complexities of fame.

Mark shares his hopes for how audiences will engage with "Opus"—not just as entertainment but as a conversation starter that sparks meaningful dialogue.

We also explore the dark side of notoriety and how attention, whether earned or taken, can shape history.

If you love films that make you think long after the credits roll, this episode is for you!

🎧 Tap in for an insightful conversation with one of the most compelling storytellers in the industry.


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (00:06):
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Speaker 3 (00:18):
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Speaker 4 (00:23):
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Speaker 5 (00:24):
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Speaker 2 (00:25):
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(00:46):
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dot com.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Tune in.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
This influence fluent but ice cream.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
I Hi, I'm Mark, how do you tell me?

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Here me Zaviera Avierra. That's beautiful, Thank you, thank you
so much. Congratulations on opus.

Speaker 4 (01:27):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Where are you calling from?

Speaker 5 (01:29):
I'm in Atlanta.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
I was.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
I was at Atlantic station last night all the love
saw you getting showered with love.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, it was very intense. Uh and I and I well,
I think we stayed way too late. But that was
one of the most special moments of my professional life
for sure.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
And it was all over your face. I could see it. Yeah,
it was beautiful.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
It was beautiful, Mark, it was beautiful, basking it because
you deserve it as someone in media. Of course, after
seeing the Opus, my mind has been racing like what
did he mean by this? What did he mean by that?
Just trying to dissect the film. Can you tell me
what if any viewpoints or messages that you definitely hope

(02:15):
that collectively we as viewers take away from the film.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
First and foremost, I hope you have a really good time.
I hope you had a really good time last night.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Great.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
So that's the first thing. And then the second thing is,
you know, I don't pretend to have answers that to
such complicated issues.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
I hope that Opus.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Makes people ask questions, and I hope that they talk
with their friends. I hope they go to their churches
and you know, loved ones and their group chats all
of that, and we feel like we watch this film together.

(03:06):
We laugh together, we jump together, we look away at
the same time, right, we have this shared experience that's fun.
And then I hope that you know, we ask questions
about this. I think I consider to be a global
pandemic of tribalism, and ask if this still serves us,

(03:28):
and if we feel like it has the way we
select to leadership and the people that we choose to follow,
if that also that process and the values that the
system of what makes a good leader, does it still work.

(03:52):
Do you feel like it's working and has been working,
or that it's becoming more true or less true? And
if people which it seems like that has been the case,
which I'm so proud of, but if people watch this
film and they leave questioning and talking with one another,

(04:13):
debating with one another, then I will feel like mission accomplished.

Speaker 5 (04:19):
You know, mission definitely accomplished.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
One of the things that really sat with me and
I was like, I want to ask, Mark, is this intentional?
Because you know, art is subjective, right, you can have
ten people look at the same thing and walk away
with ten different opinions.

Speaker 5 (04:34):
But one of the things.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
That I struggle with, or not necessarily struggle with, but
it's something that's always at the forefront of my mind
and reporting. You know, I run an entertainment outlet and
sometimes I dive into current events and a lot of
times when people do things that.

Speaker 5 (04:54):
We consider heinous.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
You know, that's it's attention grabbing, right, everybody's on it,
everyone wants to talk about it. I struggle with the
aspect of did that person do it for this attention,
for this fame, for all this talk, and you know,
without going directly into the film, not to spoil the film,
I felt like that was one of the messages that

(05:19):
came across in the film. It's like, Hey, I'm going
to expose you for your crimes. I'm going to expose
you for the things that you've done. And they're actually like,
thank you for spreading the message.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
I mean of like a real world.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Example of something like this is Luigi.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
That's who I thought about immediately.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, right, Like if Luigi was on a corner somewhere
in New York holding a sign that says, you know,
the CEO is corrupt or healthcare system is flawed, none
of us would.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Know his name.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
If he walked them the video and he punched him
in the mouth, that none of us would know his name.
He murdered him. And I'm not saying Luigi's good or bad.
I'm not saying that his message is wonderful or untrue.
That's you know, that's not the point. He murdered him
in a grand fashion, and therefore it became a global

(06:23):
news story and and he's deeply polarizing. But the the
message whatever he wanted us to know, we now know.
And so there's a lot of ways to achieve fame,

(06:43):
and there's a lot of there's a lot of uh,
you know, the shortcuts come with uh, there's some some
some stickiness, some prickliness, some danger that come with the shortcuts.
And yeah, obviously Opus is one of the themes that

(07:11):
and I know it's a dense film, but one of
the things that does explore is just that multiple facets
and the powers of fame itself.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
So it's it's been really interesting to see what people
specifically are grabbing and taking away and then the examples
that that they are kind of applying it to school.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, well, thank you so much for your time and
congratulations everything.

Speaker 5 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah I did. Yeah, I got the signal at
the bottom, So you know what that means. So it's time.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, you have time. I just want to sure you
get everything that you need.

Speaker 5 (07:56):
Yeah, I have everything I need.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
It's just I just wanted the opportunity to to tell
you that the film was absolutely amazing and just congratulations
and I just love having the opportunity to be in
that moment to see you get the flowers.

Speaker 5 (08:10):
That you deserve.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
I think, where are you from.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
I'm from Jersey, but I've been in Atlanta for quite some.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
Time, Okay, all right, yeah, yeah, kind of have a
little Atlanta accent.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
My family calls me country now, so I just deal
with it.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
You got to wear it if you got it out,
you know.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
Yeah, yeah, well.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yes, So thank you so much for your time, and
I look forward to everything you have coming in the.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Future likewise, and I hope you get to sit down
and talk on the next one.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yes, absolutely, have a great day.